Paulo Costa Says He’s Been Given Next Middleweight Title Shot

After winning a hard-hitting scrap with Yoel Romero recently, Paulo Costa says he’s now been granted the next shot at the middleweight title.

That means Costa is now lined up to meet the winner of UFC 243’s title fight between Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya at UFC 243 in Australia on October 5th, and the Brazilian knockout artist has said he’ll be cageside to watch it for himself.

“Yes, I am going to Melbourne,” Costa confirmed to bjpenn.com. “Dana White is sending me there and said I get the next title shot. I fight the winner of Whittaker-Adesanya.”

Costa is riding high on confidence after racking up five wins in a row since joining the UFC to extend his career record to a perfect 13-0, so he’s not concerned regardless of who it is he eventually ends up facing for the belt.

“I can beat both. I think Adesanya is a fake champion. He hasn’t fought anyone tough, he is a skinny clown. I have a personal problem with him,” Paulo Costa explained. “If he beats Whittaker, which I don’t think, I’m going to kill him. He doesn’t stand a chance against me. As for Whittaker, he is good, tough guy. He is not as strong as Yoel, so I can take him. He is like Yoel with less power, so I can beat both of them. I really want Adesanya, though.”

Ross launched MMA Insight (previously FightOfTheNight.com) in 2009 as a way to channel his passion for the sport of mixed martial arts. He's since penned countless news stories and live fight reports along with dozens of feature articles as the lead writer for the site, reaching millions of fans in the process.