UFC 243: Paulo Costa is in Melbourne to “Send my Message”

It remains to be seen who will emerge from UFC 243 tonight holding the unified, middleweight title. But, Paulo Costa has headed south to Melbourne to make sure the winner remembers he’s next in line…

Costa’s rise up the 185 ranks

The now 28-year-old Costa joined the UFC back in 2017, and since then powerful fighter has gone 5-0. Most recently the Brazilian worked his way to a decision win over Yoel Romero at UFC 241, and in doing so, he moved into the #2 spot of the middleweight ranks. As a result, Costa is in line to face the winner of today’s scrap between Whittaker and Adesanya.

Costa’s attendance at UFC 243

Well, as noted above, Costa is attending UFC 243 in person. While talking to the media about his plans for the event, Costa had this to say (quotes via MMA Junkie):

“I don’t need to do anything to scare these guys – just to be here,” Costa said. “They know I have a great challenge for them, for either of them. They need to fight against me. Probably it will be the next one. Whoever wins will need to fight against the new face of this division, the guy who made Romero go backwards for two or three rounds.

“I’m here to send my message.”

There you have it. Now, if you’ve followed Costa in recent months, you know he and Adesanya have been trading verbal shots through the media. While discussing his issues with Adesanya, Costa had this to say about “The Last Stylebender”:

“I really want to break the face of Adesanya,” Costa said. “It’s personal with him. I cannot hide this.”

There’s no doubt that Whittaker – Costa would make for a very intriguing fight. But, due to beef between Adesanya and Costa, there’s clearly more of a story line there to work with. Now we wait to see who unifies the titles tonight.

Here is the complete line-up for UFC 243 which will be hosted by Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium (via MMA Mania).

UFC 243 ESPN+ PPV Main Card on (10 p.m. ET)

185 lbs.: Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker vs. Interim Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya
155 lbs.: Dan Hooker vs. Al Iaquinta
265 lbs.: Sergey Spivak vs. Tai Tuivasa
170 lbs.: Luke Jumeau vs. Dhiego Lima
265 lbs.: Yorgan De Castro vs. Justin Tafa

UFC 243 ‘Prelims’ Under Card on ESPN2 (8 p.m. ET)

170 lbs.: Rostem Akman vs. Jake Matthews
170 lbs.: Maki Pitolo vs. Callan Potter
145 lbs.: Megan Anderson vs. Zarah Fairn dos Santos
155 lbs.: Jamie Mullarkey vs. Brad Riddell
UFC 243 ‘Prelims’ Under Card on Fight Pass / ESPN+ (6:30 p.m. ET):

115 lbs.: Nadia Kassem vs. Ji Yeon Kim
135 lbs.: Bruno Silva vs. Khalid Taha

*Fight card, bout order and the amount of matches subject to change.