Like it or not, weight-cutting is deeply rooted in mixed martial arts. MMA adopted its weight-cutting from the sport of wrestling, where it is presumed to be very advantageous to be the biggest and strongest in your weight class. Known as the ‘fight before the fight,’ most UFC fighters cut anywhere from 5-25 pounds, with some fighters even in excess of 30 pounds.
Weight-cutting is the ultimate test of discipline and willpower. Many fighters in the sport consider it very unprofessional to miss weight. In this series, we will shine a light on fighters who cut a massive amount of weight, who have missed weight multiple times in the past, who have made weight-class changes, along with how the weight-cut and weigh-in could affect possible upcoming match-ups. Basically, every aspect of weight-cutting and how it affects the fight game.
Paulo “The Eraser” Costa (13-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC)
Middleweight (185lbs): 5-0 (UFC), The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 Contestant
Paulo Costa has never missed weight for a professional MMA bout and he has not changed weight classes.
Costa is included on Weight Cutting Chronicles this week solely based on how big he is and just how much weight he has to cut.
After weighing in at the middleweight limit of 186lbs the day before his most recent bout against Yoel Romero, Costa clocked in at whopping 213.8lbs on fight day. An increase in almost 15% of his total body weight had been gained back in a single night.
Costa stands at 6’1″ with a 72″ reach and at 29 years old is still making the middleweight division as he has for his entire professional MMA career.
Costa can be seen in a training video from just last month just breaking under 220lbs, and after his bicep injury in 2018 walked around at over 230lbs. Costa cuts a crazy amount of weight and will have to make 185lbs on the nose (which he’s made before) for his title bout against Israel Adesanya at UFC 253.
