Watch top UFC middleweight contenders Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori face off ahead of their UFC Vegas 41 main event.
It was quite the buildup to the highly-anticipated matchup between top “middleweights” Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori, and it was capped off with an intense faceoff ahead of their UFC Vegas 41 main event.
After a series of weight-cutting issues during the week by Costa, the fight with Vettori will take place at a catchweight of 205 pounds. Costa said during media day earlier in the week that he currently weighed 211 pounds on Wednesday, and wouldn’t be able to make the 186-pound limit for their middleweight bout.
As a result of the various weight changes for their main event, Vettori will receive 20 percent of Costa’s purse for the bout. Despite many believing it might’ve been in his best interest to not go forward with the fight, Vettori opted to go through with it.
The drama of the week ended as quickly as it started, as Costa and Vettori both successfully weighed in at 205 pounds. Shortly after, they nearly sparked a brawl on stage at the UFC APEX during their faceoff.
After a wild fight week, Paulo Costa vs. Marvin Vettori will take place at a catchweight of 205 pounds
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Vettori nearly charged at Costa before being separated by UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby during the faceoff and had some choice words for Costa and his manager, Wallid Ismail. The frustration of the roller coaster fight week has fueled the animosity between the two sides with Vettori telling Costa he already lost on the scales and screaming obscenities at Ismail as he walked off stage.
Costa and Vettori are both looking to get back in the win column, after both losing to middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. A win could put them back in the middleweight title picture.