Paulo Costa Hoping Romero Misses Weight For A Third Straight Fight

The Ultimate Fighting Championship announced a mouth-watering middleweight bout between two juggernauts in the 185-pound division between Paulo Costa and former title challenger Yoel Romero which is set to be held in New York on November 3. Despite the official announcement by the UFC, however, the bout is not set in stone as Romero has yet to sign the contract.

Romero underwent surgery following his loss to the middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in June and despite the Cuban not signing yet, his opponent Costa is confident the fight will happen.

”I’ve signed the contract, it’s on for me,” Costa told MMA Fighting. “He has his contract already, he’s just needs to get up the courage and sign it. But he will sign it. He doesn’t have anyone else to fight.”

The imposing Brazilian had previously stated his desire to fight former champion Chris Weidman after his devastating win over Uriah Hall last month and was surprised when UFC matchmakers offered him the “Soldier of God.”

”I really liked the fact that they chose Romero. It couldn’t be better,” Costa said. “He’s the No. 1 in the rankings. Let’s do this, let’s get closer to the belt. This is the final step to the belt. I was asking for Weidman, but I didn’t really shoot for the moon. I asked for Weidman, but the UFC thought big and gave me Romero instead. It’s way better. I’m happy. It couldn’t be better.”

”I’ll get to the fight and impose my aggressive and brutal rhythm, going for the kill,” he continued. “Every strike will be a bomb. I’m confident. I’m going there for a brutal finish, as always. This is how I see myself winning.”

It is a surprising announcement given the fact Romero was contemplating a move up to the 205-pound division as a result of two consecutive events where he failed to make weight. Costa joked that he wants Romero to miss weight again so he gets a cut of his fight purse.

”The fact that he has trouble [making] weight cheers me up,” Costa said. “It’s 20 percent more going to my pocket. Everything I want is him to miss weight. Get there heavy and give me my 20 or 30 percent. 30 is even better. That’s all I want. Yoel Romero, eat a lot and get there heavy, please. I want your 30 percent.”

Costa said he watched Romero’s last fight with Whittaker and was disappointed by the performances of both fighters claiming if it were him in the cage he would have finished both of them.

”I didn’t like the Whittaker and Romero fight,” Costa said. “I thought to myself, if I were in that cage I would have knocked out both of them because they had the opportunity to connect clean strikes in the face and no one went down. If it was me, I would have knocked them out way sooner. It wouldn’t even get to the third round.”

The undefeated Brazilian said if he were to beat Romero in November he should be considered for a title shot although didn’t rule out fighting the winner of Weidman and Luke Rockhold who meet at UFC 230.

”I think I’ll be a serious title contender after I beat Romero,” Costa said. “I’m sure I’ll be next. If Weidman or Rockhold get a big win, maybe the UFC puts me against the winner, but it doesn’t matter. I would like to do that fight, too. The top 5 only has big names, and fighting any of them is a sign of prestige. I would like to fight them.”