Paulo Costa vs Robert Whittaker set to headline UFC event on April 17!

Paulo Costa vs Robert Whittaker set to headline UFC event on April 17!
Paulo Costa (L) and Robert Whittaker (R)

The UFC is targeting Paulo Costa vs Robert Whittaker for the main event on April 17. Paulo Costa is currently ranked number 2 in the middleweight rankings and Robert Whittaker is ranked number 1. The venue for the fight is yet to be decided.

The news was first reported by Sherdog and then later confirmed by ESPN. This will be the first time Paulo Costa is fighting since his humiliating loss to Israel Adesanya at UFC 253. His opponent Whittaker, on the other hand, is currently on an upward spiral, with back to back wins over Darren Till and Jared Cannonier.

Number 1 vs Number 2!

Sherdog tweeted, “Robert Whittaker, Paulo Costa Targeted to Headline UFC Event on April 17.“

FS Video
https://twitter.com/bokamotoESPN/status/1353883629508648961

Brett Okamoto of ESPN later confirmed the same, tweeting, “UFC officials confirm, Robert Whittaker (@robwhittakermma) vs. Paulo Costa (@BorrachinhaMMA) will headline an event on April 17. Five rounds. How good is this?“

Paulo Costa (13-1) will be looking forward to laying the ghost of his first and only loss in his professional MMA career, to rest. The Brazilian was absolutely dominated by a vastly superior Israel Adesanya at UFC 253, as he succumbed to a second round TKO loss. Robert Whittaker, on the other hand, last fought Jared Cannonier at UFC 254, winning the fight via unanimous decision after thoroughly dominating Cannonier. The win saw him reassert his authority as the number 1 ranked middleweight contender, after falling to Adesanya back in 2019 (he lost his middleweight title, then).

Can Paulo Costa get back on winning track? Or will the OZ juggernaut continue? Who have you got?

Also Read : ‘Man continue with the same stance but just become better at distance’ – Henry Cejudo has a piece of advice for Conor McGregor!