UFC President Dana White sat down at the post-fight press conference following UFC Vegas 42 and chimed in on the fights. The event produced some spectacular finishes on the jam-packed 11-fight card that was capped off with a scintillating main event. Another show-stealing performance came from Joel Alvarez who stopped Thiago Moises via TKO.

Watch What’s Trending Now!

Alvarez is beginning to look like a major player in the lightweight division and appears to be gradually leveling up. However, he missed weight in his last two fights and may be forced to move up to welterweight. With reference to Joel Alvarez’s performance, Dana White revealed that he was beefing with middleweight star Paulo Costa over a similar issue of weight.

Also Read: ‘He’s Got to Stop Touching People’- Dana White Slams Referee Herb Dean for Indecisive Stoppage at UFC Vegas 42

ADVERTISEMENT

Dana White x Paulo Costa: Who will get the last laugh?

Paulo Costa recently caused quite a stir when he ended up fighting Marvin Vettori at 205-pounds instead of the contracted 185-pounds. While Costa didn’t technically miss weight on the scale, the last-minute weight change was extremely concerning. In fact, UFC President Dana White made it clear that Costa will have to fight at light heavyweight moving forward.

I'd like to see Paulo Costa at 205 just because I'm not a huge fan of weight cutting. However, he does deserve another chance at 185. It's the first time he misses weight in the UFC and it was by a ton, which tells you something had to go terribly wrong in the camp.

MMA Junkie
MMA Junkie
@MMAJunkie

Paulo Costa isn't convinced about staying at 205. "If I can make 185 – why not?" #UFCVegas41 | Full video: bit.ly/3BcDTvT

62
Reply

Costa resisted this mandate in the immediate aftermath and it seems like he is still at odds with the UFC. The Brazilian seemingly wants to continue fighting at middleweight and this has created some friction between himself and the UFC brass.

ADVERTISEMENT

Dana White explicitly revealed that both parties were at odds as to what the next best move is going forward.

ADVERTISEMENT

Dana White

Getty

“Listen, if you continuously can’t make weight. You know, we’re beefing with [Paulo] Costa right now over this, you know what I mean.”

“Is there a person in this room who thinks he can come in and the next fight and confident he’ll weigh 185-pounds? Exactly. Anybody? Raise your hand, please. Yeah, I didn’t think so.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Read this story: List of UFC Fighters Who Are Married to Each Other

Someone is going to relent in this stalemate between the UFC and Paulo Costa. Perhaps the former title challenger will be granted one more opportunity to make the middleweight limit going forward. However, a singular slip-up on the scale from here on out will guarantee the end of Costa’s run as a UFC middleweight.

ADVERTISEMENT

Share this with a friend:

Link Copied!

Written by

author-image

Darryl Pinto

2,138 Articles

Darryl Pinto is a senior MMA writer and editor at EssentiallySports. He is currently pursuing his Sport Business Management degree out of Humber College, Canada and has completed nearly 3 years with the organization. He has also served as the Head of Content for the MLB department. Darryl specializes in predictions, reporting, and covering UFC events live. Having competed in MMA at a collegiate level, he consciously attempts to integrate an athlete's breakdown of MMA techniques like striking, defense, and grappling into his penmanship of the sport as he seeks to give the reader a well-rounded point of view. Before becoming the lead MMA writer, Darryl has also written articles for the NFL and boxing divisions. He began watching UFC 11 years ago at UFC 117 when Chael Sonnen went to war against Anderson Silva.

Know more