Melquizael Costa blasted Morgan Charriere out cold with a violent head kick 74 seconds into their UFC Vegas 112 clash to close out a perfect year for the Brazilian—and earn some personal satisfication.
Prior to Saturday’s fight, Costa told MMA Fighting before flying to Las Vegas that Charriere was “the first guy I’m fighting that I really don’t like” and it became worse when they saw each other during fight week at the UFC APEX and Performance Institute.
“Super arrogant guy, full of himself,” Costa
told MMA Fighting after the win. “I’ve never seen someone that disgusting. He already thought he owned the belt. Not even champions pull that kind of clown stuff. My coach went to greet him and he turned his face away, you know? All show and very little action. He got hit right in the mouth to learn some respect. He’s still tasting my foot on his face [laughs].”
Costa felt that Charriere “wasn’t confident” when they stared down after the weigh-ins on Friday and acted like he “doesn’t really want to be there.”
“Or maybe he thought it was going to be easy. And it was, for me,” Costa said. “I was going to blast him with kicks to destroy his arm, but he couldn’t even handle the first kick. My coach said, ‘Man, you throw 300 kicks [in the gym]. If you don’t land a kick like that on this guy…’ Kicks are one of my strengths. When I kicked pads sometimes it was going right through it. ‘Melk, if you land two kicks on this guy, he’s not going to stay standing.’
“In my last fight, against [Julian] Erosa, coach Joao Emilio said, ‘Melk, fake the body kick and go upstairs.’ My coach was holding the pad and he knew exactly what I was going to do, and even then I was so fast that I knocked out my Muay Thai coach on his feet. It was so fast that the other coach had to catch him. That’s a kick I’ve been throwing for a long time. It’s very strong, very fast.”
Costa was riding a four-fight winning streak going into UFC Vegas 112 with two submissions to his credit, tapping out Shayilan Nuerdanbieke and Andre Fili, and felt his first knockout in the octagon was due.
“Before walking out, I told my strength and conditioning coach, ‘Bro, film this, I’m going to knock this guy out with this kick,’” Costa said. “I faked a one-two to the ribs and went upstairs. And that’s exactly what happened. Like I always say, you do it over and over again, and it comes out automatically in the fight.”
Despite the fact he didn’t like Charriere, the Brazilian featherweight controlled himself and didn’t throw any follow-up strikes.
“The thing is, I’m too nice, man,” Costa said. “My coach said, ‘You should’ve thrown two more to kill that son of a…’ He was already dead, you know? The moment he fell like that, I thought, ‘The guy is already done, that’s it, it’s over.’ For me, whether I’m mad or not, this is a job, you know? If I had seen any chance of him coming back I would’ve thrown one more, but the guy fell completely out, stiff. And when I looked at him I even thought, ‘What if I throw one and he wakes up?’ [laughs] He’s already dead anyway, leave that pest alone. The guy was already finished. I didn’t see the need to hit him again. His soul was already out of his body, he wouldn’t have felt anything.”
Costa feels he’s finally getting the recognition he deserves from fans and media, but his biggest focus is having love for the kids who send him messages on social media, especially ones who also have vitiligo.
“As for the rest of the people, those who didn’t know me, nice to meet you, I’ve arrived,” Costa said. “The division is going to look and say, ‘Damn, Melk is different — and not just because of skin color.’ I can strike, I can finish. They’ll be a little more alert, but it won’t matter at all because I’m going to beat the hell out of everyone the same way.”
Costa said UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby “already promised me […] my next fight will be against a ranked guy,” and he looks up to a former UFC champion as inspiration to reach the top of the mountain one day.
“I’m coming, and it’s inevitable,” Costa said. “I think a lot about Charles [Oliveira’s] path, when he was hovering around and nobody in the top 15 would accept a fight with him. But once he got in, that was it, it was over, he killed everyone. I base my career a lot on that.”
“Next year it’s going to be three fights for me,” he continued. “One to enter the top of the division, the second puts me in the title picture, and I’ll finish the year fighting for the belt. Write that down and come back later.”
Costa predicts he will end 2026 as the UFC featherweight champion, and expects his title win to be against Jean Silva in Brazil.
“It’s going to be crazy, two dogs going at each other in Brazil,” Costa said with a laugh. “It’ll be better than the White House.”
