A top five matchup in the middleweight division between Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori is in the works to take place as a main event of a UFC fight night on Oct. 23, according to a report from ESPN’s Brett Okamoto.
Costa (13-1) has not fought since he was defeated by UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 253 in Sept. 2020 while challenging for the 185 pound title.
Costa was scheduled to fight on two separate occasions in 2021 (Robert Whittaker on April 17, and Jared Cannonier on Aug. 21), and withdrew from both fights.
He made headlines in June, after publicly voicing his displeasure with fighter pay. UFC president Dana White responded and it appeared a dispute was underway between ‘Borrachinha’ and the promotion.
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However, after this development, it appears cooler heads have prevailed.
Vettori (17-4-1) is also coming off a loss while challenging for the UFC middleweight title. ‘The Italian Dream’ suffered a defeat to Adesanya via unanimous decision in the main event of UFC 263.
As far as the matchup between Costa and Vettori goes, this fight makes perfect sense.
With both fighters coming off a loss while challenging Adesanya for the middleweight belt, the winner of this contest could be propelled right back into the title picture.
Paulo Costa-Marvin Vettori in the works for Oct. 23 main event
