Paulo
Costa claims to have significantly diversified his skillset
since his title loss to Israel
Adesanya in 2020.
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Costa was undefeated in 13 pro-outings that included 12 finishes
going into his gold bid against Adesanya at UFC
253. Adesanya delivered a striking clinic to hand “Borrachinha”
his first loss via second-round technical knockout.
While Costa has since gone 1-2, the Brazilian recently put on a
gritty performance against Robert
Whittaker, almost knocking “The Reaper” out despite suffering a
unanimous decision loss. According to Costa, he has developed
several new tools in his arsenal since his loss to “The Last
Stylebender.”
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“I’ve grown a lot as a fighter, as a person; [I’m] more
experienced,” Costa told ESPN MMA. “I have more skills than in the past, like
[a] spinning back kick everybody saw in my fight against Whittaker.
And improving my wrestling, jiu-jitsu and boxing as well.”
Costa is scheduled to face former champ Sean
Strickland (28-6) in a five-round co-headliner at
UFC 302 this weekend at Prudential Center in Newark, New
Jersey. The former middleweight king called Costa a predictable and
“basic” fighter, who primarily relies on catching his opponents
rushing in. However, Costa believes Strickland is more “basic,”
with just a jab and cross in his arsenal. Contrastingly,
“Borrachinha” vows to bring a variety of lethal weapons to secure
the finish on Saturday night.
“He is [a] basic fighter. He is [a] very basic fighter,” said
Costa. “He just jab and jab and cross I think. I don’t anything
else from him. I have skills, I have weapons [in] my toolbox to
show on Saturday. So this fight can finish in every single way,
like spinning back heel kick, front head kick, I like the spinning
back on the belly as well, left hand, hooks; the finish can be even
on the ground. So, I’m not [a] basic fighter… [I’ve] sharpened my
hands, sharpened my kicks, wrestling takedowns, ground and pound.
So this fight can finish in every single way.”