Robert Whittaker vs. Paulo Costa – Preview & Matchup Analysis

UFC 284: Makhachev vs. Volkanovski is scheduled to take place on Saturday, February 11, 2023, in Perth, Western Australia, Australia. In one of the matchups on the fight card, Robert “The Reaper” Whittaker will take on Paulo “The Eraser” Costa in the Middleweight Bout. You can view the full UFC 284 card.

In this post, we will break down Robert Whittaker vs. Paulo Costa matchup. Let’s take look at the fighter’s ages, their height, records, reach, fight stats, and more below ⤵

The 33-year-old, Robert Whittaker is coming in with a 25-6-0 record. Whittaker will be fighting for the first time since a win via U-DEC against Marvin Vettori at UFC Fight Night: Gane vs. Tuivasa in September.

Costa, meanwhile, is coming off a U-DEC win against Luke Rockhold on September 3, 2022 at UFC 278: Usman vs. Edwards and holds a 14-2-0 record.

Robert Whittaker has an orthodox fighting stance with a 73″ reach. The 33-year-old, Paulo Costa is an orthodox fighter with a 72″ reach. An orthodox fighter stands with their left side forward and jabs with their left hand, the southpaw fighter is the opposite, southpaw stands with their right side forward and jabs with their right hand. In most cases, orthodox fighters are right-handed, if you are left-handed, then you fight southpaw.

Robert Whittaker:
→ Whittaker’s striking accuracy is 42%.
→ Whittaker lands 4.48 significant strikes per minute.
→ Whittaker’s takedown accuracy is 37%.
→ Whittaker’s takedown average is 0.82 per 15 minutes.
→ Whittaker’s takedown defense is 84%.

Whittaker comes in with 42% striking accuracy, typically landing about 4.48 significant strikes every minute. On the other side, Costa fires at 60% accuracy, landing about 6.5 significant strikes per minute. Robert Whittaker also has a 37% takedown accuracy and on average gets around 0.82 takedowns every 15 minutes, compared to Costa’s 0.53 takedowns and 79% takedown accuracy.

Paulo Costa:
→ Costa’s striking accuracy is 60%.
→ Costa lands 6.5 significant strikes per minute.
→ Costa’s takedown accuracy is 75%.
→ Costa’s takedown average is 0.53 per 15 minutes.
→ Costa’s takedown defense is 79%.

Paulo spent on average 10:40 minutes in the Octagon and Robert has an average fight time of 14:25 minutes.

This looks like an interesting matchup, at least on paper. UFC 284 is live in , who do you think will win, Robert or Paulo? Sound off in the comments.

You can view the scheduled UFC 284 fight card, upcoming UFC schedule 2021, and latest MMA news.