Paulo Costa might not be a UFC middleweight contender for too much longer. Costa is currently riding a two-fight skid, with consecutive losses to champion Israel Adesanya and fellow contender Marvin Vettori in recent memory.
Costa has just one fight left on his contract, and he either wants a rematch against Vettori – who defeated him via unanimous decision – or he won’t fight in the UFC again.
Paulo Costa Says He Wants Vettori Rematch Or Nothing
In a recent interview with Ag.fight, he reaffirmed his desire to continue fighting at 185 pounds, and described Vettori as “the only viable guy” for him in the middleweight division. “I just said to let Dana White know. I’ll fight him now. It’s the only fight that interests me. No one else interests me.
Unless it’s for the title, but I’m no fool. I’m not stupid to consider [a title fight] now. I want to fight him. He’s the only viable guy that interests me. If it’s not him, I’m not even interested in fighting. I let Dana White know that.”
Costa then went on to blast Marvin Vettori, calling him an a**hole and fool, despite Costa failing to make weight for the fight, entering the Octagon twenty pounds heavier than his opponent, and still losing.
“I don’t respect him. I want to end his life. He’s an a**hole, a fool. He had this win over me and thinks he’s the man, but he’s an a**hole, a child. We see he’s a goof, he can’t even wear shorts the right way. There’s a photo of him with his shorts backward, and he still thinks he’s the man. But I’ll fight him again. I mean, at least I plan to.
I’m not saying I want to fight Vettori because he took my place in the ranking. It’s not about that. It’s because he’s an a**hole. I have to fight him. I have to erase this loss. I want to leave him sidelined for at least a year after the beating I give him. I want to hurt him. I’m angry.”
As for what’s left of his contract, Paulo Costa isn’t ruling out a cash-grab move to the boxing ring, praising Francis Ngannou for teasing the same. “Boxing pays more in the short term but doesn’t have the promotion power the UFC has
UFC pays too little but has high promotional power. You have to try to have both, get what’s best from each side, which is what Ngannou has done.
He’s the UFC champion, getting paid a bad purse, and now that he’s at the top he’s doing the right thing, which is to go after the financial part outside the UFC.”
Do you want to see Costa vs Vettori 2, or should Paulo Costa follow through on his promise and chase his fortunes elsewhere? Let us know in the comments.
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