Robert Whittaker vs. Paulo Costa officially announced for April 17th UFC Fight Night card
The UFC has officially announced a middleweight fight between Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa. The two highly ranked 185-ers will meet in the main event of the UFC Fight Night event on 17th April.
Taking to social media, the UFC officially announced the fight between Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa. While there have been some talks of the fight being contested for the interim UFC middleweight title, nothing has been confirmed from the UFC's end regarding this being a championship fight.
Here is the announcement made by the UFC:
Following Paulo Costa's loss to Israel Adesanya at UFC 253, the Brazilian and his team called for a fight against Robert Whittaker. Costa's manager Wallid Ismail insisted that a fight against The Reaper should be for the interim UFC middleweight title while reigning champion Israel Adesanya goes on the hunt for another title at the 205-pound division.
With Israel Adesanya set to challenge Jan Blachowicz for the UFC light heavyweight at UFC 259, it remains to be seen what the UFC does with regards to the title picture at middleweight. If The Last Stylebender wins the 205-lbs title, he could also decide to defend both his titles.
Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa's latest runs in the UFC
Robert Whittaker has been on an absolute tear in the UFC's middleweight division. The former UFC middleweight champion was victorious over Jared Cannonier and Darren Till in his last two fights, bouncing back from his title loss to Adesanya in 2019.
Meanwhile, Paulo Costa was unbeaten in the UFC and secured wins over the likes of Uriah Hall, Yoel Romero, and Johny Hendricks. However, The Eraser's unbeaten run inside the Octagon was brought to an end when he met Adesanya in the main event of UFC 253.
The 17th April card promises to be another exciting night of fighting. The location or venue for the event is yet to be confirmed.