This former UFC fighter’s charge away from the Octagon continued, despite some considerable adversity.
Bantamweight Randy Costa’s time competing on mixed martial arts’ biggest stage did not go to plan, with the 31-year-old losing his last three fights to exit the UFC following a 2-4 run.
But the Massachusetts native’s game approach and entertaining style were never in question even amid his difficult losing skid, and that certainly has not changed during his return to winning ways away from the sport’s leading promotion.
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Randy Costa moves to 4-0 since UFC release with Muay Thai victory
Costa departed the UFC after a 64-second submission loss to Guido Cannetti, which followed defeats to Tony Kelley and Adrian Yanez. That kind of result has not been possible in some of his fights away from the Octagon, and that’s seemingly allowed ‘The Zohan’ to thrive.
After bouncing back in MMA with a sub-minute knockout against Carlos Espinoza at Combat FC 4, Costa competed twice under the banner of Jorge Masvidal’s Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA. Having beaten Jason Knight, an illegal knee then resulted in a no contest against Brandon Davis.
Costa subsequently made his BKFC debut against Nick Burgos this past June. The former UFC prospect made a statement by recording a first-round knockout to leave his mark on another sport.
Most recently, ‘The Zohan’ was taken to the scorecards for the first time in his professional combat sports career when he entered the Muay Thai realm.
Costa was damaged early, sustaining a brutal broken jaw in round one of his fight against Joe Penafiel at Cage Titans: Ring Titans 1 last Friday inside Plymouth Memorial Hall in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
The 31-year-old posted the X-ray image on social media, and fans praised him for fighting through the injury for the remainder of the three-round contest to have his hand raised by way of unanimous decision.
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Randy Costa likely to avoid surgery on gruesome jaw break
While the injury sustained in his first taste of Muay Thai action could keep Costa out for the remainder of 2025, he looks likely to avoid surgery.
In a statement on his Instagram account, ‘The Zohan’ reflected on the victory, which leaves him 4-0 with one no contest since leaving the UFC in 2022.
“Fresh scan of my jaw. Broke my s— in the first round,” Costa wrote. “Fought (two rounds) with it looking like this.
“I can’t even begin to express the things I learned about myself the other night…and like I had said before the fight, that’s what this is all about.
“I don’t even care about the broken jaw,” Costa continued. “I earned this one. I’m so proud of myself and so thankful. (Shoutout) the journey of self discovery.
“Follow up (appointment) in 2 weeks. As long as no changes, looks like surgery/wiring is avoided. If there’s a change then I’ll be getting a plate put in my s—. I’m optimistic it’ll be all good (though). Looking like 4-6 (weeks of rest) to let this thing heal and then back rockin’ right away.”