Paulo Costa is enjoying life at 205 pounds, but he’s not ruling out fighting in the division in which he once competed for a UFC title.
“The Eraser” next fights the undefeated Azamat Murzakanov in the co-main event of UFC 327 tonight in a light heavyweight bout with contender implications. If Murzakanov defeats Costa, he’ll improve to 7-0 in the UFC and be on the short list for a championship opportunity, while Costa might not be far off himself if he manages an upset.
However, even with a victory,
Costa isn’t committing to his new weight class, especially if a big opportunity presents itself at 185 pounds.
“Oh yeah, 100 percent,” Costa said at UFC 327 media day on Wednesday when rematches with Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland, or a title fight with Khamzat Chimaev were suggested. “I’m not fighting at 205 because I can’t make 185, this is not the case. I planned that and I just saw a good opportunity to fight at light heavyweight and I said, ‘Why not?’ I can fight in both divisions, both weight classes at the same time, and be a contender at both of them. So why not?”
That said, Costa is enjoying the benefits of being in a heavier weight class. The 34-year-old has competed at light heavyweight in the UFC before, though that was under strange circumstances. Ahead of a UFC Vegas main event bout against Marvin Vettori in October 2021, Costa had their middleweight bout bumped up to 205 pounds during fight week after having issues with his weight cut (Costa forfeited 20 percent of his purse as penalty despite not officially missing weight).
Costa insisted that as beneficial as it’s been to not have to cut extreme amounts of weight, he knows he can still make 185 pounds if the situation calls for it.
“The fact to not even think about your next meal is something different,” Costa said. “Even mentally, it’s less stressful and you can enjoy life more.
“But I don’t regret my sacrifice to fight at middleweight as well and I’m a fighter, I’m prepared for this, to do sacrifice to achieve my goals and if I need to do sacrifice to make 185 I can do and I’m going to do. If I have some goal to achieve, I’m going to follow and chase and I’m going to achieve them, so that’s the high-performance athlete’s mindset.”
It’s been an uneven run for Costa since beginning his career 13-0 with wins in his first five UFC fights. He’s gone 2-4 since with wins over Roman Kopylov and Luke Rockhold, and losses to the elite of the division including Adesanya, Whittaker, and Sean Strickland.
Costa now waits in a different contender line, with the right luck possibly positioning him to face the winner of Saturday’s light heavyweight championship main event between Jiri Prochazka and Carlos Ulberg in the future.
“I think the winner of this fight can be in a very good spot,” Costa said. “Can be the next title shot contender. I’m going to watch this fight closely, I think this is a good fight as well.”
