A fight between former UFC middleweight title challengers Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori is being finalized as the headliner for a Fight Night on October 23.
A middleweight bout between former UFC title challengers Marvin Vettori and Paulo Costa is being finalized for a fight night event on October 23. ESPN was first to report the news. The two are expected to be the main event.
Paulo Costa (@BorrachinhaMMA) vs. Marvin Vettori (@MarvinVettori) is being finalized to headline a UFC Fight Night event on Oct. 23, per multiple sources. Costa’s side wanted it. Vettori’s side wanted it. Let’s have some fun, yeah? pic.twitter.com/Lb6ycjB0ey
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) August 3, 2021
Former title challenger Paulo Costa (13-1) is fighting for the first time in over a year and is looking to bounce back from his first career loss, a second round knockout against Israel Adesanya in a bid for the middleweight championship. Leading up to the bout, Costa had recorded victories over the likes of Yoel Romero, Uriah Hall, and former champion Johnny Hendricks. Earlier this year, Costa had said he was looking for a raise before competing again, citing his desire for “Youtuber money” in reference to the purses being commanded by social media star turned pugilist Jake Paul. Costa was briefly connected to a bout with Jared Cannonier in August, but later said he had never officially accepted the fight.
Vettori (17-5-1) is looking to bounce back from his own loss to Adesanya after coming up short in his middleweight title bid this past June. Vettori had reeled off a five fight win-streak following his previous loss (also to Adesanya) and had established himself as a title contender following victories over the likes of Jack Hermansson and Kevin Holland.
No location for the bout has been announced, although it is speculated that it could end up in Abu Dhabi on “Fight Island” as UFC 267 the following week is expected to be held there, and UFC President Dana White has suggested multiple consecutive events when the promotion returns to the region.
