Paulo Costa vs. Luke Rockhold Targeted for UFC Event on Aug. 20

Two weeks ago, Paulo Costa told Sherdog.com in an interview that if the fans wanted it, he’d accept a fight against Luke Rockhold.

According to Brazilian outlet Combate.com, and confirmed with sources close to the fighters, that bout will happen on Aug. 20. When Rockhold initially floated the idea of a fight with Costa, the Brazilian shot it down on social media, saying he wasn’t interested in facing an unranked opponent. But with much of the rest of the middleweight division being booked for summer matchups, Rockhold may have been one of the last remaining options for Costa.

“Borrachinha” is coming off back-to-back defeats against Marvin Vettori and Israel Adesanya in his last two UFC appearances. The 31-year-old Brazilian began his professional tenure with 13 consecutive triumphs — 11 by KO or TKO — before suffering his first defeat in a middleweight title clash with Adesanya at UFC 253.

Rockhold, 37, has not competed in three years. The former 185-pound king last appeared at UFC 239, where he fell to Jan Blachowicz via second-round KO in a light heavyweight affair. His last victory came at UFC Fight Night 116, where he defeated David Branch via TKO in September 2017.