Paulo Costa may be one of the largest middleweight contenders you will ever see, but the Brazilian knockout artist still made weight for his title fight with Israel Adesanya later tonight (Sat., Sept. 26, 2020) at UFC 253 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Flash Forum on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi.
Costa, who reportedly weighed 210 pounds leading into his grudge match with “Last Stylebender,” has one of the most difficult cuts in the division. As a hulking power puncher who prides himself on size and strength, Costa doesn’t allow himself much room for era when it comes to cutting weight.
Luckily, Costa hit the scale at 185 pounds on Friday to make his title fight opposite Adesanya official. It was a big relief for worried Costa fans everywhere, but more proof that “Borrachinha” is ready to take over the middleweight reigns.
One fighter impressed with Costa’s weight-cutting abilities is none other than Diego Sanchez, who will make his 32nd Octagon appearance at UFC 253 when he takes on welterweight Jake Matthews. Sanchez ended up running into Costa on Friday and posted the following message to social media to pay respect to the middleweight juggernaut.
“I have to say this guy is the weight cutting master,” Sanchez wrote via Instagram. ”And still had good energy after his massive weight cut. I can feel it is going to be a legendary night.”
Costa, who will be making his first UFC main event bid, has amassed an undefeated 5-0 record since making his promotional debut back in 2017. The massive middleweight has reached the third round just once during that span — winning a unanimous decision over Yoel Romero at UFC 241 — so it’s going to be interesting to see how Costa’s body holds up over the course of 25 minutes.
If Costa is able to catch Adesanya early and capture the undisputed UFC middleweight title it will in fact be a “legendary night” for the man known as “Eraser.”
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 253 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN 2/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance (also on ESPN 2/ESPN+) at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
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