Dana White Reveals How He Scored Controversial Paulo Costa vs. Yoel Romero Fight
The middleweight encounter between Yoel Romero and Paulo Costa certainly delivered — but most of the combat sports world seemed split on the result.
Romero and Costa collided in a bout between hard-hitting knockout artists on the main card of UFC 241 last night. Both fighters scored a knockdown in the first round, though Costa edged it overall. The last two rounds, however, were much more equal as both competitors traded back-and-forth.
In the end, Costa was awarded the unanimous decision victory much to the disappointment of a booing Anaheim crowd. Media scorecards on MMA Decisions, however, show that it was very much split.
So how did UFC president Dana White score the contest?
“I had it scored 2-1,” White said in the post-fight press conference. “I gave Costa the first two rounds and I gave Romero the third round. Some of the fighters that I talked to that were there tonight had Romero winning two rounds and Costa winning one round. I think that’s one of those fights where either way it went, I don’t think you’ll be like ‘oh my God, this is an absolutely robbery.’ That fight was ridiculous.
“”And I actually thought that in the third round, Romero could have finished that fight a couple of times and when he had him hurt, he would back off and go back to the middle of the Octagon which I thought was weird.””
Does Win Over Romero Lead To Title Shot For Costa?
Costa is undoubtedly next in line to challenge for the middleweight title. The current champion in Robert Whittaker will defend his crown against Israel Adesanya at UFC 243 in October next.
But while White refused to confirm anything, he nonetheless believes “The Eraser” is deserving of getting the next crack:
“Usually an RDA fight, I say man, when you beat RDA, that’s a big deal and he’s one of the toughest guys out there,” White added. “When you beat Romero, especially the way he beat him tonight, yeah, I wouldn’t say that he doesn’t deserve a title shot.”
What did you think of Costa’s performance? Did you score him to win?
