Rising Contender Eyes Fight With Chris Weidman At UFC 230

There is one rising contender who has called out Chris Weidman for an upcoming fight.

That contender is Paulo Costa, who is coming off a big win over Uriah Hall on the preliminary portion of the UFC 226 pay-per-view event this past weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada.

As a result of this fight, it marked his fourth straight fight in the UFC with all of those wins coming by knockout or TKO. He has never been past the second round while under the UFC banner.

There were man fight fans that believed Costa would fight Israel Adesanya, who is fresh off a unanimous-decision win over vet Brad Tavares in the main event of The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale the night prior to UFC 226. However, Costa made it clear that he didn’t know who Adesanya is.

“I don’t know who (he is),” Costa (12-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) told MMAjunkie after his win over Hall (13-9 MMA, 6-7 UFC). “I think when he comes to (the) top 10 or top five … I can think about him.”

Instead, Costa has his sights set on a showdown with former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman at the upcoming UFC 230 pay-per-view event.

“This is just one more victory on my way to the world title,” Costa said, according to the UFC. “Now I want to face a top fighter. I want to fight Chris Weidman. No one in this division can win against me. I’m the most powerful middleweight, and I’m showing that in every fight. Uriah had very good timing and connected the jabs, but I knew he would not be able to handle my power. I’m ready for the next battle.”

“Let’s fight,” Costa said. “Let’s make a great fight in his hometown in November to see who deserves to go to the next title shot in November, after (Kelvin) Gastelum.”

The UFC 230 pay-per-view event is set to take place on Saturday, November 3, 2018 at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, New York City. The main card will air on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET while the preliminary card will air on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass.