Paulo Costa | Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images
Paulo Costa feels accomplished after his unanimous decision win over Yoel Romero at UFC 241.
It may come as a surprise to many MMA pundits that Paulo Costa scored a unanimous decision win after going toe-to-toe for three wild rounds against Yoel Romero at UFC 241, but not for the Brazilian. In an interview with Combate, ‘Borrachina’ was able to explain that fans were only now able to witness something he already knew, his toughness.
Having never been to a decision before his last outing, Costa raised some questions about his durability around some MMA circles, but now the 28-year-old hopes to have answered some those questions as he now awaits to challenge the winner of Robert Whittaker vs. Israel Adesanya for the middleweight belt.
“Many of you only now saw how tough I am, but I already knew,” Costa said. “I feel very happy. I showed the world how tough I am, and Romero is one of the best guys in the world. In my opinion, the best guy in the division after me, obviously. That’s it. That’s what I do at the gym everyday. Four rounds with four different guys. Me, with four different guys around me. Nothing is strange to me, I’m used to doing this.”
Now, as he awaits for winner of Adesanya and Whittaker to emerge at UFC 243, Costa believes both men are scared of fighting him after his win over Romero. In fact, Paulo goes as far as saying he would kill Adesanya if given a chance.
“Both of them are looking at me in fear, because neither of them have a tough guy like me to face,” Costa said. “I beat Romero, who was the top man in my opinion. If Adesanya wants to fight me, I can kill him, he’s too skinny. Adesanya talks too much sh-t about me. After my Uriah Hall fight, he called me out, saying I had dinosaur arms. Israel still has a lot to prove in the UFC, but Whittaker is a real champion. Of course I can beat them both. All I want is the belt, that’s my focus.”