Paulo Costa is wanting match as a fiddle weeks earlier than his extremely anticipated return to the Octagon this month.
Costa, a one-time middleweight title challenger, will make his first look of 2023 because the promotion heads again to Vivint Area in Salt Lake Metropolis for UFC 291. In the primary occasion of the night, followers shall be handled to a rematch 5 years within the making as top-ranked light-weight contenders Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier run again their 2018 traditional.
Followers can even get their first glimpse of former middleweight champion Alex Pereira at 205 as ‘Poatan’ is about to sq. off with former gentle heavyweight world champion Jan Blachowicz.
The primary card’s featured bout will see Paulo Costa return to tackle Russian standout Ikram Aliskerov. Forward of their predominant card conflict later this month, Costa provided up a have a look at his coaching while displaying off his shredded physique in a video clip shared on social media.
Paulo Costa rides into the competition with a stable 14-2 report, his solely losses coming towards reigning UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and fellow high contender Marvin Vettori. His final look got here in August 2022 when he squared off with the returning Luke Rockhold at UFC 278. The bout was each entertaining and odd, however Costa in the end escaped with a unanimous choice victory.
Since then, Paulo Costa has been going backwards and forwards with the promotion in hopes of securing an even bigger bag for himself. In response to the person himself, he did precisely that, signing a brand new contract value upwards of $1 million per battle.
At UFC 291, we’ll discover out if the No. 7 ranked middleweight is well worth the funding when he faces the unranked Ikram Aliskerov. With a report of 14-1, Aliskerov shall be seeking to land a spot within the 185-pound division’s high ten after dispatching Phil Hawes in his promotional debut at UFC 288 in Might.
