UPDATE: UFC officials have confirmed that Robert Whittaker vs. Paulo Costa is official for April 17.
A middleweight bout with practically guaranteed title implications is headed to the spring UFC lineup if the targeted bout between Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa is finalized.
Sherdog is reporting that both the Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa camps are currently negotiating fighting on April 17 in a bout that would serve as the main event. Paulo Costa’s team has been pushing hard for this fight for weeks, and it appears Whittaker is in the process of caving. Whittaker had lobbied for a world title shot against middleweight champ Israel Adesanya, but with Adesanya moving up to light heavyweight to challenge Jan Blachowicz, his options became quite limited. Enter Borrachinha.
Paulo Costa is also hungry for a rematch against Israel Adesanya. Prior to his loss to Adesanya, Paulo Costa was an undefeated wrecking ball, crushing his way to an undefeated 13-0 record. The first four wins of Costa’s UFC career were TKOs that came within two rounds. He would then take part in one of the best fights of 2019 when he defeated Yoel Romero via unanimous decision at UFC 241.
This led to Costa getting a crack at Israel Adesanya in a much-anticipated grudge match at UFC 253. The bout saw Adesanya make easy work of the Brazilian and then proceed to dry hump him in celebration. Costa has vowed to get revenge on Adesanya for the vile act, and there is no better way to position himself for that opportunity by defeating the #1 contender.
Robert Whittaker also had an acrimonious build-up to his fight against Israel Adesanya. But unlike Costa, Whittaker entered the bout as a champion who had earned the reputation as the best middleweight in the world. Adesanya would interrupt that narrative by finishing Whittaker in the second round. Whittaker believes that he is still the best in the world, though, and that he was not himself in his loss to Adesanya. His bounce-back of two very impressive wins over Darren Till and Jared Cannonier helps strengthen that claim.
The only other bout scheduled for this card at the time of publication is Bartosz Fabinski vs. Gerald Meerschaert.
If finalized, who do you have taking this middleweight blockbuster between Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa?
