After a disappointing decision loss to Sean Strickland at UFC 302, Paulo Costa vowed to return to his aggressive knockout style, abandoning his recent conservative approach, in a passionate social media video.
Six years have slipped by since Paulo Costa’s last UFC knockout. He’s itching to change that after another frustrating night at UFC 302.
Costa dropped his fourth bout in his past five UFC appearances on Saturday. He suffered a lackluster decision defeat to Sean Strickland in UFC 302’s five-round co-main event.
It was another setback for the one-time title challenger. Costa, who began his MMA career as a knockout artist with four consecutive knockouts from 2017-18, has shifted to a more conservative style.
Since then, he’s fought to decisions in five of his past six bouts. The only exception was his second-round knockout loss to then-UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in 2020.
At UFC 302’s post-fight press conference, Strickland criticized Costa for “running” throughout their non-title bout. Costa has had enough.
On Sunday, the frustrated 33-year-old middleweight vowed to return to his old barnstorming ways. He posted a lengthy and since-deleted video on social media platform X.
“I will bring back the [old] Paulo to take heads off, to finish the fight,” Costa declared. “I’m not that kind of counter [fighter], sorry, I’m not that kind of counter guy. I do better [when I] move forward and try to finish and look for heads.”
“I have the power, so I need to deliver that — and I will do that. I won’t give a fck. Fck points or conserving energy or fck anything about that. I will come to take heads off. And this is who I am, this is the kind of fighter I am, and the fighter who people expect that I perform [as]. So I will do that. Fck points, I’ve [had] enough of this.”
Costa’s entire promise can be read below, which was accompanied by the caption, “Heard me?”
“I just came to say a few words. Yeah, Sean won. I didn’t perform very well. I think he didn’t either, but at least he did enough to win, right? This is two losses in a row in three fights, three former champs — Luke Rockhold, [Robert] Whittaker, and Sean. I won one and lost two. But let me tell you something, I agree with Dana [White] and Joe Rogan, and I will do that — I will bring back the [old] Paulo to take heads off, to finish the fight. I’m not that kind of counter [fighter], sorry, I’m not that kind of counter guy. I do better [when I] move forward and try to finish and look for heads. Sean is so awkward, so different kind of fighter to fight against, it’s difficult. He was teeping me, keeping [away], pushing me, keep pushing me, keep me far from him, because he knows the power that I have. And I have the power, so I need to deliver that — and I will do that. I won’t give a fck. Fck points or conserving energy or fck anything about that. I will come to take heads off. And this is who I am, this is the kind of fighter I am, and the fighter who people expect that I perform [as]. So I will do that. Fck points, I’ve [had] enough of this. Even the first round that I was 100 percent sure that I won, some people thought I lost. F*ck them. I will come to take heads off. That’s it, who I am.”
Costa (14-4) has now lost two bouts in a row at the hands of Strickland and Robert Whittaker. His only win since 2019 came in a 2022 decision over Luke Rockhold. Oddly enough, the Brazilian talent does not own a victory over anyone on the current UFC roster.
UPDATE: Costa re-uploaded the video, which can be watched below.