It’s fair to say Paulo Costa is confident ahead of his explosive matchup with Yoel Romero this weekend.
The two powerful middleweights will collide on the main card of UFC 241 which takes place in Anaheim, California. Costa is an undefeated professional with a 12-0 record that includes 11 knockouts. At the age of 28, he is also 14 years the junior to Romero. Yet, he is the betting underdog going into the fight.
That says more about Romero than anything else, however, who boasts an incredibly impressive resume at middleweight. But “The Eraser” still expects to get the job done and believes the “Soldier of God” has no chance against him.
“Yoel Romero doesn’t have a chance against me,” Costa told Submission Radio. “He will not see my hands, through his head, through his body. I think last year was very good for me to train more, to focus on training and not focusing on the fights.”
Costa is so confident that he’s even made plans following UFC 241. The middleweight title will be decided on October 5 when Robert Whittaker meets Israel Adesanya in the main event of UFC 243. And the Brazilian plans on sitting in the front row for that event.
“After this fight, I beat Romero, knock him out, I want to take this flight to Australia, across the world, and I will be there in the first row watching my next opponent, Adesanya or Robert Whittaker,” he added. “I don’t care who, but I will beat both. I can beat both in the same night.”
Who does Costa think will win in that fight? While he would like for it to be Adesanya as they have had their back-and-forths in the past, he believes “The Reaper” will ultimately come out on top.
“I do like if Adesanya won, but I think not,” he explained. “I think Whittaker will beat him because Whittaker has many skills in more places, like ground, wrestling, and stand-up. [In the] stand-up, Adesanya is better than Whittaker, but Whittaker is more complete.
“I don’t care to fight against Adesanya, I just want to fight for the belt. Just this. If Adesanya get the belt, I will hurt him.”