"I'm calling it by stoppage in the third" - 'Big' John McCarthy makes his prediction for UFC 278 co-main event between Paulo Costa and Luke Rockhold

Paulo Costa will take on former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, and 'Big' John McCarthy has made his prediction.

On an episode of the Weighing In podcast, 'Big' John McCarthy revealed he's riding with Rockhold. The former ref admitted it's a gamble but ultimately believes Rockhold will end up getting his hand raised by way of stoppage in the third round. McCarthy said:

"Technique-wise (Rockhold) is every bit as good as him (Costa). The question with Luke Rockhold is, Is Luke able to take a shot anymore? That's the real question, and that's the one I'm going to just have to gamble on and say, I think Luke is. I think Luke is back I believe in his ground game, and I think if Luke is smart enough to get the fight to the ground, use his kicks... I think that Luke Rockhold walks away with a win against Paulo Costa, I'm calling it by stoppage in the third.

As 'Big' John points out, Rockhold's chin is a daunting question as he has been knocked out in three of his past four matches. It will also heavily depend on which version of Paulo Costa shows up as he has lost two straight and hasn't looked much like himself as of late. Regardless, it will be a good opportunity for at least one of the slumping middleweights to get back on track.

You can watch the full episode of the WEIGHING IN extra below:

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Anthony Smith also believes if Luke Rockhold can avoid being knocked out, he has the potential to 'make it look easy'

Anthony Smith also chimed in on the upcoming match between Rockhold and Costa and had high praise for Rockhold. Smith thinks Rockhold is the better fighter and echoed a similar sentiment that McCarthy did. He believes if he can avoid the big shot, he'll handle Costa with ease, stating:

"If he can avoid taking anything big, I don't see where Paulo Costa wins this fight, I don't see how. Luke's too good on his feet... I've heard the horror stories of Luke Rockhold grappling, that guy is god d*** good... We've all seen his striking, it's fantastic... as silly as it sounds he might make it look easy.

This fight is career-defining, especially for Rockhold. If he gets knocked out again, there will likely be calls for him to hang up the gloves. Saturday night will reveal whether he has fixed the holes in his game or if 'Borrachinha' will erase Rockhold from contention.