"I have 15 fights and just miss weight once" - Paulo Costa shares frustrations with treatment received from the UFC
Paulo Costa is tired of everyone attacking him for missing weight once.
The middleweight contender hasn't fought since a decision loss to Marvin Vettori that saw him show up on fight week so heavy their fight was moved up to light heavyweight. Since then he hasn't been able to call out any 185 pound opponents without them questioning his weight.
After failing to secure a match-up against Sean Strickland, Paulo Costa challenged Derek Brunson. That didn't go so well, with Brunson calling him 'Paulo Pasta' and a heavyweight.
He said I’m heavyweight hahahaha
“How can I fight a heavyweight in the middleweight? It’s unfairly fight. This is guy is so big. He is on peds he is a cheater. I don’t want fight Costa” Derek Brunson lol https://t.co/i5KVA9HdXp
On Twitter Costa wrote:
"These fighters in middle weight are unhappy for me fighting at 185 cause they can’t fight big like me. I have 15 fights and just miss weight once after injures in training camp. Many fighters missed weight couple times and still ok. It’s a illogical thing just look like scares."
These fighters in middle weight are unhappy for me fighting at 185 cause they can’t fight big like me. I have 15 fights and just miss weight once after injures in training camp. Many fighters missed weight couple times and still ok . It’s a illogical thing just look like scares
While it's true that Costa has only missed weight one time in the UFC, it's the way he missed weight that's undoubtedly concerning other middleweights. 'Borrachinha' showed up on fight week weighing 211 pounds and asking for a catchweight. Initially they agreed to a 195-pound catchweight. That was then changed to 205 pounds, a whole weight class up from middleweight.
Vettori showed up ready to make 185 pounds, so Paulo Costa had a significant size advantage on fight night. That didn't stop Vettori from outpointing Costa 48–46, 48–46, 48–46 on the judges' scorecards for a win.
Even Dana White has said Paulo Costa shouldn't be competing at middleweight
It's not just Costa's opponents that are claiming he's too big to make 185 pounds. UFC president Dana White publicly barred Costa from fighting at middleweight after the Brazilian came in wildly overweight for his fight against Marvin Vettori. At the post-fight press conference White said:
"It’s not like the guy showed up out of shape, or the guy has lost his mind and wasn’t training for this fight and just showed up and was overweight. He obviously trained. He can’t make 185. It just goes to show you that he cannot make 185 pounds. We’re beefing with Costa right now over it. Is there a person in this room who thinks he can come in the next fight and is confident he can come in and weigh 185 pounds?"
It's been five months since Costa fought Vettori and he still doesn't have another bout booked. Costa's manager Wallid Ismail claims the UFC has eased up on demands that Costa fight at light heavyweight next, but none of this has been confirmed via the UFC or White.
Watch Dana White discuss Paulo Costa's weight below: