Antonio Carlos Junior has offered to step in and replace Yoel Romero at UFC 230. Paulo Costa was scheduled to face the number one UFC ranked middleweight in the promotions third visit to Madison Square Garden this November, but Romero will not be able to compete because he is still recovering from surgery and will not be ready for UFC 230. Carlos Junior is currently riding a five-fight win streak with the last three coming by way of rear-naked choke.
Hey @BorrachinhaMMA ! Let me fill in for Romero! Lets let the world see how our sparring used to go!!! @ufc @danawhite @Mickmaynard2
— Cara de Sapato (@caradesapatojr) August 21, 2018
In a social media post, Carlos Junior who has a history with Costa issued the challenge hinting at their past training together and what looks to deliver an exciting fight. Costa is currently ranked number eight in the UFC middleweight rankings with Carlos Junior ranked at number 11. A win for Carlos Junior would make for a significant bump up if the fight gets signed.
At 27 years old Costa is undefeated in MMA and holds wins over Uriah Hall and Johny Hendricks, all his wins are finishes with 11 of the 12 wins by way of KO or TKO. Carlos Junior has eight of his ten wins by way of submission and with both men producing the high finish rate that comes with their records; the fight would certainly be fan friendly as well as a highly anticipated bout on a card with no main event listed yet.
Carlos Junior tagged both Dana White and Mick Maynard in his post and history has shown nothing puts a smile on White’s face more than a fighter willing to step in and save a fight on a pay-per-view card. It would also be wise for the UFC to resolve this as soon as possible since it can be difficult in New York to find fill-ins for cards the closer we get to November. UFC 223 had several changes leading up to fight night including the Conor McGregor bus incident that hurt other fights on the card. Saving a card last minute can prove difficult with NYSAC.
This fight should be a no-brainer.
Do you think this fight will happen at UFC 230?
