Costa Done With Points: ‘I Will Take Heads Off’

Costa released a fiery statement after his disappointing decision loss to Sean Strickland in New Jersey.

Paulo Costa is sick of losing fights on the judges’ scorecard.

“Borrachinha” has had a lot of success outside of the cage over the past few years. He negotiated a new big money contract with the UFC and has gained tens of thousands of new fans through his cheeky social media presence. But when it comes to the actual fighting, it’s been a different story. It took him over a year to actually complete the first fight on his new deal, and he’s now 0-2 after losing decisions to Robert Whittaker and Sean Strickland.

The Whittaker fight was close, and Costa came closest to actually finishing that fight with a massive headkick in the dying seconds of round one. But the Strickland fight at UFC 302 was a slow grind, exactly the fight “Tarzan” excels in. Paulo never managed to get off the backfoot, and cruised to a split decision loss that was unanimous in the eyes of everyone watching.

A day after the disappointing defeat in New Jersey, Costa tweeted a video sharing his thoughts on the disappointing outcome of the fight.

“Yeah, Sean won. I didn’t perform very well,” he said. “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—,” Costa declared. “F— points, or conserving energy, or f— 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— points, I’ve enough of this. Even the first round that I was 100 percent sure that I won, some people thought I lost. F— them. I will come to take heads off. That’s it. Who I am.”

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen the “Borrachinha” that takes people’s heads off. The last knockout finish from Paulo came all the way back in 2018, when he KO’d Uriah Hall at UFC 226. He was a beast back then, though. That was his fourth UFC knockout in a row, and his tenth consecutive stoppage win. But he’s having some trouble channeling that violence at the upper echelons of the sport.

What do you think, Maniacs? Does Paulo Costa have what it takes to turn things around, or has he lost the fire he had back in 2017 when he was mollywhopping everyone with ease? Let us know in the comments below!