"No way" - Paulo Costa doesn't want to apologize to Marvin Vettori for making him fight at light heavyweight
Paulo Costa claims he does not plan to apologize to Marvin Vettori after their middleweight bout at UFC Fight Night 196 was scrapped. Both men fought at light heavyweight instead, thanks to Costa being unable to make the middleweight limit.
'The Eraser' said he doesn't owe Vettori an apology because, according to the Brazilian, their fight was fair and square.
"No way [I will apologize]. Of course not. I came here and the UFC suggested to fight at catchweight, or 205, and I said 'let's go'. I don't care about the weight. So, this is a fair fight. The both guys made weight on the same day, at the same limit, so it can't be more fair than that."
After five brutal rounds, Marvin Vettori picked up a unanimous decision victory (48-46, 48-46, 48-46).
Catch Paulo Costa's comments from the post-fight press conference below:
Paulo Costa's weight cut fiasco
Paulo Costa was scheduled to take on Marvin Vettori in a middleweight bout at UFC Fight Night 196.
However, three days before the event, 'The Eraser' confirmed he would not be able to cut down to 185 pounds. The UFC changed the bout to a catchweight of 195 pounds. However, that also seemed too rigorous for the Brazilian, forcing the UFC to schedule a light heavyweight bout.
Costa said him and Vettori coming in at 205 pounds would only make the fight more entertaining, considering their knockout prowess at a heavier weight class. Putting the onus on his Italian opponent, Costa even stated it was up to Vettori to make the fight happen.
"The UFC suggested to fight on this catchweight and I'm ready to make that weight. Just wait for him. I hope this fight happens. If Marvin doesn't s**t his backward pants... What I'm hearing is that he don't know what to make the weight," Costa told TMZ Sports.
According to Vettori's manager, Ali Abdelaziz, Costa missed weight on purpose because he was trying to get himself cut from the UFC.
I wasn’t gonna say nothing but he is making fun of weight cut. He is doing everything to make ufc to cut him and cancel the fight. But this is not gonna happen twitter.com/KevinI/status/…