Paulo Costa vows to ‘Take heads off’ in next fight after loss to Sean Strickland at UFC 302: ‘I have the power’
Paulo Costa plans to change the way he fights following his UFC 302 loss to Sean Strickland.
Costa was coming off a decision loss to Robert Whittaker back in February and was making a rather quick turnaround in his standards to face Strickland in a five-round co-main event on Saturday at UFC 302. Early on Paulo Costa was doing well, but as the fight played out, Strickland began to take over.
When the final bell rang, it was Sean Strickland who edged out the decision. After dropping back-to-back competitive decisions, Costa vows to drop his point-fighting style and once again go for the knockouts.
“Yeah, Sean won. I didn’t perform very well,” Paulo Costa said (via MMAMania). “I think he didn’t either, but at least he did enough to win, right? This is two losses in a row in three fights, three former champs — Luke Rockhold, Whittaker, and Sean. I won one and lost two.”
“But let me tell you something, I agree with Dana [White] and Joe Rogan, and I will do that — I will bring back the Paulo that takes heads off, to finish the fight. Sorry. I’m not that kind of counter guy. I do better moving forward and trying to finish and look for heads. Sean is so awkward, so different kind of fighter to fight against, it’s difficult. He was teeping me, keep pushing me, keeping me far from him, because he knows the power that I have. And I have the power, so I need to deliver that — and I will do that,” Paulo Costa added.
“I won’t give a f—,” Costa declared. “F— points, or conserving energy, or f— anything about that. I will come to take heads off. And this is who I am, this is the kind of fighter I am, and the fighter who people expect that I perform. So I will do that. F— points, I’ve enough of this. Even the first round that I was 100 percent sure that I won, some people thought I lost. F— them. I will come to take heads off. That’s it. Who I am.”
Costa hasn’t recorded a knockout win since 2018 when he TKO’d Uriah Hall.
Dana White Rips Judge Who Scored UFC 302 Fight For Paulo Costa
Paulo Costa suffered a split decision loss to Sean Strickland, however, the fight was rather clear for the former champ and UFC CEO Dana White didn’t agree with the split decision result.
After the event, White took time to blast the judge who scored it for Costa and said he shouldn’t judge another big fight agian.
“It wasn’t weird – it was f*cking nuts is what it was,” White said. “It’s insane. That guy should never (judge) a big fight again. They should kick him back down to the minor leagues and let him work on his judging. It’s unbelievable. How anybody who isn’t an absolute f*cking lunatic could call that fight a split decision … I don’t even know what to say about that. It’s insane. That guy shouldn’t be judging big fights.”
With the loss at UFC 302, Costa is now 14-4 and is 1-4 in his last five fights.
