Paulo Costa earned a measly $35k for an incredible 5-round fight against Marvin Vettori
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Paulo Costa
Paulo Costa had one fight in the entire calendar year for 2021. That was against Marvin Vettori and for better or for worse, Costa’s antics leading up to the fight were the significant reason behind the buzz surrounding the event.
The bout that was supposed to be held at middleweight, i.e. at 185 lbs, had to be shifted from catchweight of under 195, later on to light heavyweight itself. This was wholly due to Costa’s absolute refusal to cut weight, with some reports suggesting he walked into fight week almost 45lbs over the middleweight mark.
The weight miss was sure to affect Costa’s purse and his reputation as an asset for the UFC. However, Costa in his own weird way used the moment to build up his own brand, accusing Marvin of wanting a way out of fighting him. At one point Costa said, “That’s your own personal problem” as Marvin explained the process of weight cutting and weight classes in MMA.
Paulo Costa wishes to weigh his options before re-signing with the UFC
The fight itself was nothing short of a spectacle. Held at the Apex facility, every strike that connected from the two big boys was heard loud and clear. They maintained pace for all 5 rounds with either man refusing to go down and absorbing significant damage for it.
One would assume for delivering such an enthralling fight would have Costa rewarded in some way. You would be mistaken as recently the Brazilian revealed the shockingly low amount he was paid for the fight against Vettori.
On the MMA Hour, Costa made his first appearance on the show since 2017, where he revealed the severely low pay he received for his main event against Marvin. “For my fight with Marvin I made 35 thousand”, said the former title contender as he revealed his purse amounted to much less than the average minimum wage would provide you in a year in the US.
Costa continued, ” I have to be fair, when I fought Marvin, I had to suffer a 20% deduction, but that this time is not okay. “ Costa is currently on the last fight of his UFC contract and in that light was asked by Ariel, how he would react to UFC wanting to re-sign him.
Costa replied saying, “Obviously I need to talk, I need to sit down with Dana, you know I’m not rushing to sign but we need to talk, since I’m obviously not happy with my current contract. “ This is in light of Costa delivering yet another entertaining fight against Luke Rockhold at UFC 278
Costa has expressed slight interest in fighting Jake Paul over at the squared circle, however, in the same interview, he wanted Mike Perry to be the one facing off against Paul. What do you think are Costa’s future prospects?
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Jerin Mathew
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