"I won't let him get away" - Marvin Vettori slams 'disrespectful' Paulo Costa for multiple weight changes at the last minute
Marvin Vettori shared his version of events surrounding the ongoing saga between himself and Paulo Costa ahead of UFC Fight Night 196.
The Italian fighter posted a video on Instagram to explain the details about how he found out his opponent had terribly missed weight. Vettori, who was symbolically filming from inside a sauna, said:
"I feel like it's good for me to give an explanation to all the fans [as] to what's going on about the fight. So basically, I came in, ready to make weight – ready to make 185 [pounds] as always. I came in and a little bit after, they told me Costa is overweight."
Vettori revealed that the UFC initially moved the middleweight bout to a 190-pound catchweight contest. However, officials further increased the threshold to 195 pounds and again to 198 to accommodate Costa. The Brazilian wasn't optimistic he could make 198 pounds, which prompted the UFC to finally set the matchup at light heavyweight (205 pounds). Vettori added:
"I'm making sure I'm gonna give a fight to all the fans, Saturday night. And I won't let this guy get away with it. So, I accepted the fight and we're gonna f***ing do it. We're gonna slap this motherf***er, you know. We're gonna f***ing beat him. It's right for me to do it for all of us and for all the fighters who struggle to make weight. It was very disrespectful from his side to come in 30 pounds heavier and I'm ready, man, Let's go."
Watch Marvin Vettori's message to Paulo Costa:
Paulo Costa doesn't believe he should be fined
Paulo Costa firmly believes he deserves no blame for the late change-up to his scheduled bout against Marvin Vettori. Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports reported earlier today that the Brazilian would be fined 20% of his purse – the standard penalty for fighters missing weight.
Many have asked if Costa’s fine will change since weight was moved up AGAIN. The answer, I’m told, is no. Still 20 percent.
Paulo Costa maintains that he shouldn't have been fined as it was the UFC's idea to move the contest to catchweight and then later to light heavyweight. However, the changes were only implemented when it was discovered that Costa was sitting at 211 pounds two days before the official weigh-ins.