Paulo Costa Hopes Yoel Romero Misses Weight For Possible UFC 230 Bout
Paulo Costa wants Yoel Romero to miss weight for their potential fight at UFC 230.
Earlier this month the UFC announced that the middleweights will clash at the Madison Square Garden event in November. Shortly after the announcement, however, Romero responded by saying that he has yet to officially agree to the fight.
Costa tells MMA Fighting that he’s confident the Cuban will end up accepting the fight in the end – because Romero doesn’t really have any other options:
”I’ve signed the contract, it’s on for me,” Costa said. “He has his contract already, he’s just needs to get up the courage and sign it. But he will sign it. He doesn’t have anyone else to fight.
”I really liked the fact that they chose Romero. It couldn’t be better. He’s the No. 1 in the rankings. Let’s do this, let’s get closer to the belt. This is the final step to the belt. I was asking for Weidman, but I didn’t really shoot for the moon. I asked for Weidman, but the UFC thought big and gave me Romero instead. It’s way better. I’m happy. It couldn’t be better.
”I’ll get to the fight and impose my aggressive and brutal rhythm, going for the kill,” he continued. “Every strike will be a bomb. I’m confident. I’ll going there for a brutal finish, as always. This is how I see myself winning.”
Costa then talked about Romero’s recent weight struggles at 185 pounds. Romero has missed weight in his last two fights at middleweight, the first coming against Luke Rockhold back in February (which he won via knockout) and the next against Robert Whittaker last month.
The Brazilian said that he doesn’t mind if Romero misses weight in a potential fight against one another. In fact, Costa welcomes the mishap because it means he takes home 30 percent of Romero’s purse:
”The fact that he has trouble make weight cheers me up,” Costa said. “It’s 20 percent more going to my pocket. Everything I want is him to miss weight. Get there heavy and give me my 20 or 30 percent. Thirty is even better. That’s all I want. Yoel Romero, eat a lot and get there heavy, please. I want your 30 percent.”
Costa feels a win against Romero would put him right in line for a middleweight title fight. Should Chris Weidman or Luke Rockhold pick up a big win against one another in their rumored fight in the next few months, Costa is happy to fight the winner of that bout after:
”I think I’ll be a serious title contender after I beat Romero,” Costa said. “I’m sure I’ll be next. If Weidman or Rockhold get a big win, maybe the UFC puts me against the winner, but it doesn’t matter. I would like to do that fight, too. The top 5 only has big names, and fighting any of them is a sign of prestige. I would like to fight them.”
