Paulo Costa picked up his third unanimous decision loss in his last four fights against Sean Strickland at UFC 302 on Saturday night and it’s led to the Brazilian announcing that he’s going to ditch his cautious approach and go for the finish from now on.
“Yeah, Sean won, I didn’t perform very well,” Costa said on X. “I think he didn’t either, but at least he did enough to win, right? This is two losses in a row in three fights. Three former champs: Luke Rockhold, Whittaker, and Sean. I won one and lost two. But let me tell you something, I agree with Dana (White) and Joe Rogan, and I will do that, I will bring back the Paulo that takes heads off, to finish the fight.
“Sorry, I’m not that kind of counter guy. I do better moving forward and trying to finish and look for heads. Sean is so awkward, so different kind of fighter to fight against, it’s difficult. He was teeping me, keep pushing me, keeping me far from him because he knows the power that I have. And I have the power, so I need to deliver that, and I will do that.
“I won’t give a f*ck,” Costa continued. “F*ck points or conserving energy, or f*ck anything about that. I will come to take heads off. And this is who I am, this is the kind of fighter I am, and the fighter who people expect that I perform. So I will do that. F*ck points, I’ve had enough of this. Even the first round that I was 100 percent sure that I won, some people thought I lost. F*ck them. I will come to take heads off. That’s it. Who I am.”
That was the style that made Costa a star when he first joined the UFC back in 2017 and led to four TKO victories in a row against Garreth McLellan, Oluwale Bamgbose, Johnny Hendricks and Uriah Hall, but he hasn’t registered a finish in his six fights since then, leaving him with an overall UFC record of 6-4.
