5 reasons why Paulo Costa deserves more respect than he gets from UFC fans

#4. Paulo Costa came closer to finishing Yoel Romero than any other UFC fighter

Paulo Costa came remarkably close to finishing the durable Yoel Romero at UFC 241.

Despite the fact that he now fights in Bellator MMA, it's difficult to dispute the idea that Yoel Romero is among the greatest middleweights in UFC history.

Sure, 'The Soldier of God' never managed to capture the UFC middleweight title. However, he was still able to defeat great fighters such as Chris Weidman, Derek Brunson, Luke Rockhold and Ronaldo Souza during his time with the promotion.

And more importantly, Romero gained a reputation as one of the toughest fighters in UFC history too. In fact, while he lost four fights during his tenure with the UFC, no opponent could finish him.

The one man that came close to doing so? Paulo Costa. He fought Romero in an instant classic at UFC 241 in the summer of 2019. To the surprise of many, Costa took the fight to his Cuban opponent from the off.

Romero had lost to Robert Whittaker on two occasions before this fight. However, even in those fights, he was able to do tremendous damage to 'The Reaper' without being badly hurt himself.

Against Paulo Costa, though, he was somehow faced with a bigger, stronger predator than himself. 'The Eraser' walked Romero down from the off, clubbed him with huge strikes, and even had him on the verge of being TKO'd in the first round. Romero did come back somewhat, and was able to last the distance, but he was clearly second-best in the fight, and lost a clear-cut decision.

Essentially, nobody was able to hurt 'The Soldier of God' quite as badly as Paulo Costa, not even Israel Adesanya. That means 'The Eraser' warrants plenty of respect from UFC fans.

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#3. There was no shame in Paulo Costa's loss to Israel Adesanya

UFC fans should not hold Paulo Costa's loss to Israel Adesanya against him.

Ignoring his loss during his TUF: Brazil stint, Paulo Costa has just one defeat on his professional record. That loss, of course, came against current UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 253 last September.

On the face of it, Costa's loss to 'The Last Stylebender' was an embarrassing one. 'The Eraser' came into the fight with a reputation as the most feared striker in the division. However, he couldn't lay a glove on Adesanya, and appeared to fold as soon as he was hit cleanly.

Looking more deeply at it, though, should there ever be any shame in a loss to Israel Adesanya? Absolutely not.

'The Last Stylebender' has never been beaten at 185lbs, and Paulo Costa wasn't the first opponent to be embarrassed by Adesanya. Derek Brunson suffered a similar defeat, and even Robert Whittaker was made to look like a rank amateur by Adesanya. Therefore, why should Paulo Costa lose the respect of UFC fans for falling to a TKO at the hands of arguably the best middleweight in UFC history?

Paulo Costa might not be the best 185lber on the planet right now, and he may never be, thanks to the existence of Adesanya. However, that doesn't mean he doesn't deserve plenty of respect from UFC fans.