Watch: UFC fighter Kevin Croom posts video suggesting Paulo Costa drank wine again ahead of Marvin Vettori fight

Kevin Croom (left) and Paulo Costa (right) [Photo via @kevincroom_ufc on Instagram]

Kevin Croom suggested that Paulo Costa has been drinking wine again ahead of his clash against Marvin Vettori at UFC Fight Night 196.

Croom, who was present at the UFC Apex on Saturday to accompany his teammate Grant Dawson, poked fun at Costa on social media. The 34-year-old implied that Costa is back to his self-destructive ways. On Instagram, Croom posted a video showing the exterior of Costa's locker room with a bottle of wine by the door. The UFC featherweight took a shot at the middleweight contender, writing:

"Starting to see a pattern here…… Put your money on @marvinvettori"

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A post shared by Kevin Croom (@kevincroom_ufc)

Croom's comments were an apparent jab at Costa, who claimed he drank a full bottle of wine before his championship battle against Israel Adesanya last year. According to Costa, drinking too much wine was the reason he performed poorly against 'The Last Stylebender'.

Costa returned to action for the first time since losing to Adesanya in 2020. However, his long-awaited comeback was anything but smooth as he struggled to cut weight heading into Saturday. Initially slated for a middleweight matchup, Costa vs. Vettori was moved to light heavyweight to accommodate the Brazilian.

Even worse, Costa performed unremarkably against Vettori despite his size advantage. 'The Italian Dream' picked Costa apart over five rounds to secure a unanimous decision nod. All three judges scored the fight 48-46 in favor of Vettori.

Paulo Costa wants to stay at middleweight

Despite his recent weight management woes, Paulo Costa's camp believes 'The Eraser' should stay in the 185-pound weight class. According to ESPN's Brett Okamoto, Costa's manager Wallid Ismail wants to convince Dana White to allow Costa to remain at middleweight.

Paulo Costa's manager Wallid Ismail tells me he intends to speak to the UFC and Dana White about keeping Costa at 185 pounds. Says the issue was real for this particular fight, but Costa can still compete and make weight at 185.

This comes after White expressed his intention to force Paulo Costa to move up in weight. However, Costa claimed a bicep injury was to blame for his blunder. In a post-fight interview, Costa said:

“I came in a little bit higher [in] weight because I needed to stop some weeks of training. The only problem is I lost this fight, so it will look like an excuse. I don’t have an excuse for anything. I did a good job there — Marvin as well. Congratulations to him, and to me, I think. But I had some problems to not come in here with my usual weight.”