Perfect Timing for Paulo’s Performance
Timing is everything in fighting. When you hit the limelight, when you notch a big win, matters almost as much as the performances and wins themselves. Which is what makes Paulo Costa’s arrival at light heavyweight all the more fortuitous for the Brazilian.
At middleweight, Costa was a former title challenger left to languish. Oh, he had some entertaining social media posts and his “secret juice” caught on, but it’s doubtful that Costa wanted to simply be a meme fighter. At light heavyweight, however, Costa is suddenly a player. It remains to be seen how far he can go, but let’s be honest: the ladder isn’t all that high.
Alex Pereira has departed for heavyweight, and should he defeat Ciryl Gane, it’s doubtful he’ll return any time soon. A loss might see things play out differently, but even then, at this point in his career “Poatan” may prefer to forgo a weight cut. Beyond that, new champ Carlos Ulberg won the UFC 327 main event on one leg, and will likely be on the shelf for a year or so. Jiri Prochazka we’ve already covered, but in any case, he’s not getting an immediate rematch. Dominick Reyes bounced back with a win over Johnny Walker, but was nearly booed out of the building on Saturday. 4-1 in his last five isn’t a bad look, but Reyes isn’t getting a title opportunity, interim or other, next.
Magomed Ankalaev remains out there, but the UFC has never had much interest in pushing him, even when he was champion. Remember that? Yeah. It’s that bad. Jan Blachowicz is in contention, as is Khalil Rountree Jr, the pair a former champ and challenger. Blachowicz fights Bogdan Guskov next. That rematch has a lot more upside for Guskov than it does for Jan, honestly. Rountree is 1-2 in his last three with losses to Pereira (in a title fight) and Prochazka.
If I’m the UFC, I book Costa against either Rountree or the winner of Jan/Bogdan, and should he win, give him the shot for an interim title or against Ulberg if he’s ready to return in time. Honestly, new blood at 205lbs is super necessary.
Bonus Trouble
Can someone please explain to me how Cub Swanson was left out of the UFC 327 post-fight bonuses yet Josh Hokit got two?
Yes, Hokit was in a Fight of the Year candidate, but he already had Fight of the Night. Now, the Performance bonus doesn’t have to mean “finish” but it did replace the old “Knockout of the Night” and “Submission of the Night” bonuses the UFC used to hand out. Ninety-some odd percent of the time, Performance of the Night goes to a finish.
Cub Swanson, 42-years young, a fan favorite in his retirement fight, knocked Nate Landwehr down multiple times before finishing him in the opening round. It was a brilliant performance in which Swanson showed patience, poise, and deadly pinpoint accuracy. Swanson will take home a $25,000 finish bonus, something the UFC introduced this year in lieu of actually paying fighters more off the back of a seven-year, $7.7 billion dollar broadcast deal with Paramount+. So “Killer” Cub doesn’t go home empty handed.
Still, this one seemed like a miss. Not trying to take money away from Josh Hokit. Actually, in this case I literally am, but only because Swanson was very deserving of one final Performance bonus. There’s easily an argument for a third Performance bonus here, and there’s precedent for it. Then everyone goes home happy.
Sour grapes maybe. At least Cub Swanson got to go out in style. Aside from Robbie Lawler and the great Georges St-Pierre, that has been a rarity in MMA.
