After struggling through to a split decision loss against Sean Strickland, Paulo Costa has vowed to make a change.
The beloved Brazilian flopped to his fourth loss in five fights on Saturday as he struggled to entertain fans in the UFC 302 co-main event. Neither middleweight threw much offence as they were booed throughout a tentative five round affair that ended in a controversial split decision.
There wasn’t much doubt in the eyes of experts and fans that Strickland had won relatively comfortably, with one judge even scoring it 50-45. But one of his colleagues drew the ire of many as he scored the bout in favour of Costa.
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Paulo Costa and Sean Strickland serve up a snooze fest in Newark
Because both Paulo Costa and Sean Strickland fan favourites, there were expectations of an exciting co-main event on Saturday night. However, the pair mostly nullified one another throughout a five-round bout that saw punters booing on a number of occasions.
Costa circled the cage attempting to find an opening, but Strickland’s deceptively evasive style made him tough to catch. The former world champion never really got out of first gear as he moved around and scored just enough to take the rounds.
Right at the end of proceedings, Strickland came to life as he pushed the pace and dropped his rival with an headkick. He went for the finish in the dying seconds but it was too little too late as he ended up winning a tough decision.
Paulo Costa vows to change fight style as he declares has ‘had enough’
In the aftermath of his performance, the once exciting Costa promised fans that he would be heading back to his original fight style. During his run to facing Israel Adesanya for the middleweight belt in 2020 he was known for a breakneck pace and winning four of his first five UFC fights by knockout.
But after he was knocked out by Adesanya and humiliated during a post-fight moment in the cage, it appears that his style has changed up. He lost three of his next four, and none of them were massive fan-friendly showings.
However, that may be all about to change as he told fans in a lengthy, now-deleted, social media video: “I have the power, so I need to deliver that, and I will do that. I won’t give a f***. F*** points or conserving energy or f*** anything about that; I will come to take heads off.
“And this is who I am, this is the kind of fighter I am, and the fighter who people expect that I perform. So I will do that. F*** points, I have enough of this. Even the first round that I was 100 per cent sure that I won, some people thought I lost. F*** them. I will come to take heads off. That’s it, who I am.”
Paulo Costa unhappy as he admits he ‘didn’t perform well’ at UFC 302
Many critics were scathing in their reviews of Costa’s performance on the night, and he concurs with the sentiment. In another portion of the video he noted that he needs to switch from counter-punching to a more aggressive pace that doesn’t worry about his ability to last five rounds.
“Yeah, Sean won,” he admitted in an early part of the post. “I didn’t perform very well. I think he didn’t either, but at least he did enough to win, right? This is two losses in a row in three fights, three former champs; Luke Rockhold, Robert Whittaker, and Sean. I won one and lost two.
“But let me tell you something, I agree with Dana White and Joe Rogan, and I will do that, I will bring back the Paulo to take heads off, to finish the fight… I’m not that kind of counter guy. I do better moving forward and try to finish and look for heads.
“Sean is so awkward, so different kind of fighter to fight against, it’s difficult. He was teeping me, keeping, pushing me, keep pushing me, keep me far from him, because he knows the power that I have.”