Every time that Paulo “Borrachinha” Henrique Costa has stepped in the cage, he has decimated an opponent. The middleweight has done it any number of ways. The maulings have come via head kick, ground-and-pound, right cross, left hook, combination barrage and the kitchen sink. They’ve come in small regional promotions and followed him into the UFC. And they’ve all come in a single round or less.
In nine fights, Costa, who professionally goes by Borrachinha, has never had to fight more than five minutes. His shortest outing was just 32 seconds, and in his UFC debut just less than three months ago, he needed just 77 ticks of the clock to pummel Garreth McLellan into an early evening.
For his 10th fight, he’s been anointed. The UFC has placed him on the main card of this Saturday’s UFC 212, where he’ll take on Oluwale Bamgbose. The placement of Borrachinha smack in the middle of the card is no accident. The UFC has always taken fight order seriously, and it is rare to see someone in his second fight with the promotion on the main card of a pay-per-view. After all, to most of those watching, including the hardcore MMA fans, Borrachinha is a nobody. But the UFC hopes that by about 11 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday, his name will be trending in Brazil and abroad.
The home market is the key one. Since the UFC formally re-entered the Brazilian sports scene in 2011, it has been one of the most important stops on their never-ending world tour. In 2012, the UFC set up its Octagon in Brazil three times. In 2013 and 2014, they visited seven times each, raking in millions.
But since then, it’s been a steady decline. In 2015, they came five times, and in 2016, the number dipped to three. This year, unless something changes, they’re only scheduled to visit the South American nation twice.
That’s no accident.
Part of the falloff stems from Brazil’s economy, which went from supercharged to struggling right around 2013. But part of it is due to the nation’s fading star power in MMA.
Anderson Silva is still around and still wildly popular, but he’s now 42 years old. He’s also stumbled continuously since losing the middleweight title, capped off by a failed a drug test in 2015. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira retired. Shogun Rua and Lyoto Machida have struggled. Even Vitor Belfort, who’s had one of the longest, strangest careers in UFC history, has openly discussed retirement.
Other fighters like Erick Silva and Renan Barao, who at one time seemed destined to replace them as perennial headliners, have also fallen on hard times.
Brazil could really use some new draws, and Borrachinha will get the opportunity to vault himself up the pecking order in a hurry on Saturday night in Rio de Janeiro.
What does the UFC see in him? Besides his sterling record, he is an action fighter, forging a style that nearly promises a series of car crashes until only one person remains standing. He’s young (he just turned 26 years old), resembles a bronze statue, and rumor has it he speaks passable English.
These are all things that matter during a time when the UFC is owned by an entertainment giant that prizes the show on par with the sport, if not above it.
Borrachinha thus far has only had one blip in his MMA career, coming during his time on The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3. He earned a spot in the house despite having only three pro fights at the time and, in his first bout, faced Marcio Alexandre Jr., who was far more experienced at 11-0. Alexandre weathered Borrachinha’s first-round storm and bounced back to take a split-decision win. (The fight does not count on either man’s official record since it’s classified as an exhibition.)
In that setback, Borrachinha’s mistakes were those of an unseasoned fighter. He expended too much energy wildly going for a first-round finish and was completely out of gas by the third and deciding round. Still, it said a lot for his potential to fight so competitively with a far more experienced foe.
Since then, he’s made changes to his preparation, most notably moving his training camp to put himself under the tutelage of the Nogueira brothers.
His perfect record has not come against cupcakes. His nine opponents had a combined record of 49-18 before facing him, and one of them, Wagner Silva Gomes, was a UFC veteran. In that fight, which came after Borrachinha’s TUF experience, he scored a knockout in just four minutes, 37 seconds. In all, his fights average just 2:30.
All of this portends well for his future, but there is also no pretending he doesn’t have plenty to prove. Can he more wisely allocate his energy? How will he fare against the division’s strong wrestlers? Is he just another in a long list of MMA one-round wonders who fades after five minutes?
All of these are questions that will be answered in due time.
For now, and for at least until Saturday night, his future is tinged with excitement and the hope that in him, the UFC has found a new Brazilian star.
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