Paulo Henrique Costa (born 21 April 1991) is a Brazilian professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

. He currently competes in the

Middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

division in the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

(UFC). As of August 1, 2022, he is #6 in the UFC middleweight rankings.

Background

Costa, the son of odd-jobber Carlos Roberto and Maria Augusta, was born in 1991. He has an older brother, Carlos Costa, who is a former mixed martial artist and one of Paulo's coaches. Paulo grew up in

Contagem Contagem () is a city in the center of the state of Minas Gerais, in Brazil. It is only from the capital, Belo Horizonte, and forms part of a metropolitan area with a population of 4.8 million. Geography The city belongs to the metropolitan meso ...

playing

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and eventually picking up

Muay Thai Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterised ...

at the age of nine in order to learn discipline and avoid street fights he was constantly getting into. As a teenager, Paulo joined a jiu-jitsu gym with his brother only to quit the sport after their father died of

throat cancer Head and neck cancer develops from tissues in the lip and oral cavity (mouth), larynx (throat), salivary glands, nose, sinuses or the skin of the face. The most common types of head and neck cancers occur in the lip, mouth, and larynx. Symptoms ...

when Paulo was 17. A couple of years later, Costa returned to jiu-jitsu and started competing under the tutelage of his brother who was already a

purple belt Purple Belt may refer to the following: *Purple belt, a rank in martial arts (see Kyū) **Purple belt (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu), a level in the Brazilian jiu-jitsu ranking system *A road in the Allegheny County belt system#Purple_Belt, Allegheny County ...

at the time. In order to help his mother with bills, Costa worked in real estate and as an IT teacher teaching

Microsoft Word Microsoft Word is a word processing software developed by Microsoft. It was first released on October 25, 1983, under the name ''Multi-Tool Word'' for Xenix systems. Subsequent versions were later written for several other platforms includin ...

and

Microsoft Excel Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet developed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows, Windows, macOS, Android (operating system), Android and iOS. It features calculation or computation capabilities, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro (comp ...

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Costa made his professional MMA debut in his native country of Brazil in February 2012. Eventually, his brother convinced their mother to support Paulo monetarily for a year in order to pursue his professional martial arts career. Over the next five years, he amassed a record of 8–0 with 7 knockouts and 1 submission.

The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil

Costa was chosen to be a fighter on '' The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3''. In the opening elimination round, he defeated José Roberto via submission (

guillotine choke The guillotine choke, also known as Mae Hadaka Jime (前裸絞, "front naked choke"; compare to a rear naked choke) in judo, is a chokehold in martial arts applied from in front of the opponent, often on the ground but can also be done while stan ...

) in the second round. Costa was the second middleweight fighter chosen by coach

Wanderlei Silva Wanderlei César da Silva ( , , ; born 3 July 1976) is a Brazilian-American former mixed martial artist who competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the American-based Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He holds the record for the ...

. His next fight was against Márcio Alexandre Jr., and Costa lost via

split decision A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor. A split dec ...

after three rounds.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Costa made his promotional debut on 11 March 2017, at UFC Fight Night 106 against

Garreth McLellan Garreth McLellan (born 9 January 1982) is a South African professional mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Middleweight division of the EFC. A professional since 2009, he was one of the first South African MMA fighters to c ...

. He won the fight via TKO in the first round, earning his first

Performance of the Night UFC Bonus Awards are three separate cash bonuses usually awarded to four fighters after each UFC event, based on internal decisions by UFC management. More/fewer bonuses have been awarded at some events, especially when no knockouts or submissions ...

award. Costa faced

Oluwale Bamgbose Oluwale Bamgbose (born August 4, 1987) is a Nigerian- American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Education Oluwale was raised by traditional parents who were very ...

on 3 June 2017, at

UFC 212 ''UFC 212: Aldo vs. Holloway'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on June 3, 2017, at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Background A UFC Featherweight Championship unification bout betwe ...

. He won the fight via TKO in the second round. After the fight with Bamgbose, UFC offered a new contract but the parties did not come to an agreement with the financial terms. The UFC then proposed a fight with former welterweight champion

Johny Hendricks Johny Harvey Hendricks (born September 12, 1983) is an American former mixed martial artist and collegiate wrestler. He competed in the welterweight and middleweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and is a former UFC Welterwei ...

, with a promise to renegotiate after the bout. Costa faced Hendricks on 4 November 2017, at

UFC 217 ''UFC 217: Bisping vs. St-Pierre'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on November 4, 2017, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. Background The event was the second that the promot ...

. He won the fight via TKO in the second round. After the bout Costa signed a new, multi-fight contract. Costa was expected to face Uriah Hall on 21 April 2018, at

UFC Fight Night 128 ''UFC Fight Night: Barboza vs. Lee'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 128'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on April 21, 2018, at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Background ...

. However, Costa pulled out of the fight in mid-March with an arm injury. In turn, promotion officials elected to pull Hall from that event entirely and reschedule the pairing for 7 July 2018, at

UFC 226 ''UFC 226: Miocic vs. Cormier'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on July 7, 2018, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area. Background The event took p ...

. Costa won the fight via technical knockout in round two. The win earned him his second Performance of the Night award. Costa was scheduled to face

Yoel Romero Yoel Romero Palacio (born April 30, 1977) is a Cuban professional mixed martial artist and former freestyle wrestler. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division for Bellator MMA. Romero formerly competed in the Middleweight division ...

on 3 November 2018, at

UFC 230 ''UFC 230: Cormier vs. Lewis'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on November 3, 2018 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. Background A UFC Heavyweight Championship bou ...

. However, Romero indicated in mid-August that, while he had been cleared to fight, his medics had recommended that he wait another four to five months to allow facial injuries incurred during his most recent fight to fully heal. The bout was rescheduled again, and was expected to take place on 27 April 2019, at UFC on ESPN+ 8. Costa was removed from the card for an undisclosed reason. He was replaced by

Ronaldo Souza Ronaldo Souza dos Santos (born December 7, 1979), nicknamed " Jacare" (), is a Brazilian former mixed martial artist and submission grappler who competed for UFC from 2013 to 2021. A highly regarded grappler on the world s ...

. Romero then pulled out of the fight due to pneumonia, and Costa was scheduled to face Souza, but a

United States Anti-Doping Agency The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA, ) is a non-profit, non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization and the national anti- doping organization (NADO) for the United States. To protect clean competition and the integrity of sport and prevent ...

(USADA) investigation prevented Costa from participating, so neither Romero nor Costa competed in the event. It was revealed that Costa had been suspended for six months by USADA and Comissão Atlética Brasileira de MMA (CABMMA) for receiving prohibited intravenous infusions (IV) more than 100 mL in 12 hours after the weigh-ins in June 2017 at UFC 212 against

and November 2017 at UFC 217 against

. Costa was fined a third of his purse of the fights, which were reverted to his opponents. The suspension was retroactive to 10 August 2018, and Costa was eligible to fight again in February 2019. On 23 March 2020, Lucas Penchel MSc, who provided the infusions in question, accepted a two-year ban from USADA, starting on 13 March 2020. Costa finally faced Romero on 17 August 2019, at

UFC 241 ''UFC 241: Cormier vs. Miocic 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on August 17, 2019 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Background A UFC Heavyweight Championship rematch betw ...

. He won the fight via unanimous decision. This fight earned him the Fight of the Night award. On the strength of his five fight win streak in the UFC, Costa faced

Israel Adesanya Israel Mobolaji Odunayo Oluwafemi Temitayo Owolabi Adesanya (born 22 July 1989) is a New Zealand professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer, and former boxer with multiple championships in all three disciplines. As a mixed martial artist, h ...

for the

UFC Middleweight Championship Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classe ...

on 27 September 2020 at

UFC 253 ''UFC 253: Adesanya vs. Costa'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on September 27, 2020 at the du Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Background The event was orig ...

. He lost the fight via technical knockout in the second round, making this his first professional loss.

Post Title Shot

Costa was scheduled to face Robert Whittaker on 17 April 2021 at

UFC on ESPN 22 ''UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Gastelum'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 22'' and ''UFC Vegas 24'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on April 17, 2021 at the UFC Apex facility in Enterpr ...

. However, on 16 March Costa withdrew from the fight due to illness. Costa was scheduled to face

Jared Cannonier Jared Cannonier (born March 16, 1984) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently fights in the Middleweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of November 15, 2022, he is #3 in the UFC middleweight ran ...

on 21 August 2021 at

UFC on ESPN 28 ''UFC on ESPN: Hall vs. Strickland'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 28'' and ''UFC Vegas 33'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 31, 2021 at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, N ...

. However, on 4 June, Costa withdrew from the bout due to unknown reasons. Costa later claimed he never signed the bout agreement and cited issues with his payment, while not confirming them as the reason for his withdrawal. Costa faced

Marvin Vettori Marvin Vettori (born September 20, 1993) is an Italian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Middleweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2012, Vettori is a former Venator FC Wel ...

in a light heavyweight bout on 23 October 2021 at

UFC Fight Night 196 ''UFC Fight Night: Costa vs. Vettori'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 196'', ''UFC Vegas 41'' and ''UFC on ESPN+ 54'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on October 23, 2021 at the UFC ...

, which was originally scheduled as a middleweight contest and briefly changed to a catchweight bout. Costa received widespread criticism for showing up twenty-five pounds over the middleweight limit. Costa lost the fight via unanimous decision. In the post-fight press conference, UFC President

Dana White Dana Frederick White Jr. (born July 28, 1969) is an American businessman who serves as president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a global mixed martial arts organization. In August 2019, White's net worth was estimated at $500 milli ...

said that Costa would no longer compete at Middleweight. Costa was scheduled to face former UFC Middleweight Champion

Luke Rockhold Luke Skyler Rockhold (born October 17, 1984) is an American retired mixed martial artist. He is best known for his time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he competed in the Light Heavyweight and Middleweight division. ...

on July 30, 2022, at

UFC 277 ''UFC 277: Peña vs. Nunes 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 30, 2022, at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, United States. Background A UFC Women's Bantamweight Cha ...

. However, the bout was postponed to

UFC 278 ''UFC 278: Usman vs. Edwards 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on August 20, 2022, at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Background The event marked the promotion' ...

for unknown reasons. Costa won the fight via unanimous decision. The fight earned him the'' Fight of the Night'' award. Costa was scheduled to face Robert Whittaker on February 12, 2023, at

UFC 284 ''UFC 284: Makhachev vs. Volkanovski'' is an upcoming mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that will take place on February 12, 2023, at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. Background The event will mark the promoti ...

. However, Costa disputed the official announcement by the promotion indicating he had never signed a contract and the fight would not take place.

Championships and accomplishments

Jungle Fight Jungle Fight is a Brazilian mixed martial arts and kickboxing promotion. It was created in 2003. The name is derived from its origin, the Amazonas state in Brazil. History Jungle Fight was founded by pioneering MMA fighter and long-time Brazi ...

**Middleweight Championship (One time) ***One successful title defense *

(Two times) vs.

and Uriah Hall ** Fight of the Night (Two times) vs.

MMAjunkie.com MMA Junkie is a news website that covers the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). It was founded in 2006, and is owned by Gannett Company since 2011. The site and its content have been featured in ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine'', ''ESPN The Ma ...

**2019 August Fight of the Month vs.

Sherdog Sherdog is an American website devoted to the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). It also has many forums and discussion pages on the many topics of MMA like records, promotions, etc. The site is a member of the CraveOnline network and provides MM ...

**2019 Round of the Year vs.

(round 1)

Controversies

Alleged assault on a nurse

On May 31, 2022, Costa was questioned by the police in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte, Brazil regarding an incident in which he allegedly assaulted a nurse with an elbow during a dispute over a COVID-19 vaccination card. Costa claims he was already vaccinated but had not had it recorded on his vaccination card, and that he asked the nurse to sign his card. The nurse, however, claims that Costa was not vaccinated and he refused the vaccination, and that he attempted to flee with the filled-out vaccination card without the shot being administered. She went on to say that in a measure to prevent him from leaving, she grabbed Costa by the arm and she was hit with an elbow, which caused her lips to become swollen. No charges were filed.

Racial slur controversy

In response to a challenge put forth by former UFC fighter Mike Perry, Costa responded via

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

with a tweet that said "This nigga really wants that smoke. Mike Platinum Black Perry. Wakanda". Costa came under fire from many fans for his use of the

racial slur The following is a list of ethnic slurs or ethnophaulisms or ethnic epithets that are, or have been, used as insinuations or allegations about members of a given ethnicity or racial group or to refer to them in a derogatory, pejorative, or oth ...

, and has since deleted the tweet, but posted a mock apology, and tweeted a picture of himself in photoshopped

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...

Mixed martial arts record

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Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

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Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

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Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

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Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

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New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

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Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 ,

, TKO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Gastelum , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:17 ,

Fortaleza Fortaleza (, locally , Portuguese for ''Fortress'') is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeastern Brazil. It belongs to the Metropolitan mesoregion of Fortaleza and microregion of Fortaleza. It is Brazil's 5th largest city and the t ...

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Adriano Balby de Araujo , KO (punch) , Jungle Fight 90 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:25 ,

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Eduardo Ramón , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Jungle Fight 87 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:40 ,

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Bruno Assis , TKO (punches) , Jungle Fight 84 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:17 ,

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Wagner Silva Gomes , TKO (punches) , FTF 11 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:37 ,

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Gérson da Conceição , TKO (doctor stoppage) , FTF 9 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Fábio Moreira , TKO (punches) , BH Fight: MMA Grand Prix , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:26 ,

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Ademilson Borges , TKO (head kick and punches) , Upper Fight: MMA Championship 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:32 ,

Teófilo Otoni Teófilo Otoni is a municipality in northeast Minas Gerais state, Brazil. The population of the municipality was 140,937 in 2020 and the area is 3,242.818 km2. Origin of the name The city is named after (Vila do Príncipe, 27 January 1807 - ...

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Téo Esteves , TKO (head kick and punches) , MMA Total Combat: Santa Luzia , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:08 , Santa Luzia, Brazil , , - , - , Loss , align=center, 1–1 , Márcio Alexandre Jr. , Decision (split) , rowspan=2, The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 , (airdate) , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , rowspan=2,

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Pay-per-view bouts

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Costa, Paulo 1991 births Living people Brazilian male mixed martial artists People from Belo Horizonte People from Minas Gerais Middleweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Doping cases in mixed martial arts Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian Muay Thai practitioners Sportspeople from Belo Horizonte