"He fought his a** off" - Dana White lauds Paulo Costa for gritty showing against Marvin Vettori at UFC Fight Night 196

UFC president Dana White has expressed his appreciation for Paulo Costa after the Brazilian MMA stalwart’s gritty performance against Marvin Vettori. The five-round light heavyweight matchup between Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori witnessed ‘The Italian Dream’ defeat Costa via unanimous decision.

During the post-fight press conference, Dana White was questioned whether he’s aware of the reason behind Paulo Costa’s last-minute weight changes. The UFC boss addressed this and praised both fighters. White stated:

“No. I mean, your guess is as good as mine. Yeah, we don’t know. (Paulo Costa) came in and did what he did. But with that being said, the guy fought his a** off tonight, you know. At the end of the first round, I didn’t know if he was gonna make it to the end of the second round as far as gas. But he fought his a** off tonight. He showed up and fought hard.”

“And again, you have to give all the credit to Vettori. You know, this guy was willing to fight at any weight. And he didn’t let any of this stuff mess with his head. And at the end of the day, it’s all about the fight. They both fought their a** off. Costa came out and fought – Costa looked better in the fifth round than he did in the first round. So, he was definitely in shape. When a guy comes in and he’s that heavy, you have to question whether he’s in shape or not, you know. He was in shape.”

Watch Dana White’s post-fight press conference below:

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Paulo Costa could make a run for UFC gold in a new weight class

The vast majority of MMA fans and experts believe that Paulo Costa could make an impact in the UFC light heavyweight division. Fans have recently been urging ‘The Eraser’ to test the waters at 205 pounds.

Paulo Costa was dominantly defeated by reigning UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in their middleweight title fight at UFC 253 last September. Additionally, Costa has now lost to Marvin Vettori as well.

Currently, Paulo Costa’s on a two-fight losing streak. Given his inability to cut down to middleweight against Vettori, it’d be safe to say that the Brazilian MMA star could benefit from a move to the light heavyweight division.

Moreover, a few wins at light heavyweight could very well catapult the feared KO artist into title contention in that weight class. Whether or not that happens is likely to unravel in the days to come.