Marvin Vettori claims Paulo Costa won’t make middleweight for UFC Fight Night 196 and that he’s asking for additional pounds for the matchup.
Vettori (17-5-1 MMA, 7-3-1 UFC) arrived at Wednesday’s media day and revealed there’s some ongoing drama behind the scenes stemming from Costa’s inability to make the contracted 186-pound limit for Saturday’s headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, which streams on ESPN+.
“There’s some sh*t going on – he had some problems with weight,” Vettori told reporters, including MMA Junkie. “I said I’ll fight him at any weight, but at the end of the day we still have to all be professional. He’s not professional. F*ck, we all go through weight cuts. He has to do some of it. So, we’ll see.
“The last thing I want is for the fight to be scratched, so I’ll fight him at any weight. With that being said, he needs to suffer a little bit making weight. All of us go through that. That shows. He’s a lot overweight.”
Drama alert! Marvin Vettori says Paulo Costa is "a lot overweight" for Saturday's main event.
"Worst case I'll say it's still fine at 205."#UFCVegas41 | Full video: https://t.co/SCuH3qKetM pic.twitter.com/mRidiCMvhh
— MMA Junkie (@MMAjunkie) October 20, 2021
Vettori said neither Costa (13-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC), his team nor UFC brass have officially asked him to change the weight division, but it appears some complications could need sorting through.
In Vettori’s mind, though, he’s fighting no matter what. He’s desperate to rebound from his title-fight loss to Israel Adesanya at UFC 263 in June, and he wants to get himself back in the mix with a win over Costa.
By the time they step in the octagon, it might no longer be a middleweight contest, but Vettori said so long as things are reasonable, he’s in for any adjustments.
“Nothing’s official, I just know he’s a lot overweight,” Vettori said. “He’s a lot overweight. We’ll have to find some solution. I’ll say, ‘Yes, let’s do it at 205.’ He should be able to do better than that, but worst case I’ll still fight him at 205.”
