UFC Vegas 41’s main event has been something of a question mark the entire week, thanks to Paulo Costa entering fight week heavy. And so not surprisingly, things came to a head between Costa and opponent Marvin Vettori following weigh-ins on Friday, at the final face-off prior to Fight Night.
As they came together, Vettori immediately flipped off his opponent with both hands, and the pair quickly had to be separated. Not exactly known for his cool head, Vettori let loose with a flood of expletives, and could be overheard telling Costa that “you lost to the f*cking scale.”
Whatever you think of Vettori’s temperament, the last several days have not been easy for the fighter. The bout with Costa represents a chance for the winner to get back in title contention, with both men coming off losses to middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. But Costa revealed during this week’s media day that he was sitting at about 211lbs, just days out from a 185lb fight.
The Brazilian, who had never previously missed weight, then asked for a catchweight.
“Maybe we can do a catchweight, I don’t know. 90 kilos. 195. Maybe,” said Costa, who added it would be more exciting for the fans. “With both guys heavy, this knockout can happen easily.”
Vettori, for his part, stated publicly that he’d agree to the fight at any weight up to light heavyweight. He’d apparently caught wind that Costa had come into Fight Week heavy.
A 195lb catchweight was eventually agreed on. That didn’t stick either.
While the catchweight was in place Thursday night, by Friday morning the fight had been moved all the way up to light heavyweight — and while both men made the limit, Vettori was understandably irked. He will get 20% of Costa’s purse, but that seems low given the circumstances.
UFC Vegas 41 takes place this Saturday, October 23 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Borrachinha and The Italian Dream go head-to-head tomorrow 😤
🇧🇷 @BorrachinhaMMA vs 🇮🇹 @MarvinVettori
[ #UFCVegas41 | 𝙈𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙙 4𝙥𝙢𝙀𝙏 | Live on ESPN+ ] pic.twitter.com/jbBo88HKfX
— UFC (@ufc) October 22, 2021
