Paulo Henrique Costa was born on 21 April 1991 and is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist.
34 Facts About Paulo Costa
2.
Paulo Costa currently competes in the Middleweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
3.
Paulo Costa has an older brother, Carlos Costa, who is a former mixed martial artist and one of Paulo's coaches.
4.
Paulo Costa grew up in Contagem playing football and eventually picking up Muay Thai at the age of nine in order to learn discipline and avoid street fights he was constantly getting into.
5.
Paulo Costa made his professional MMA debut in his native country of Brazil in February 2012.
6.
Paulo Costa was chosen to be a fighter on The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3.
7.
Paulo Costa was the second middleweight fighter chosen by coach Wanderlei Silva.
8.
Paulo Costa made his promotional debut on 11 March 2017, at UFC Fight Night 106 against Garreth McLellan.
9.
Paulo Costa won the fight via TKO in the first round, earning his first Performance of the Night award.
10.
Paulo Costa faced Oluwale Bamgbose on 3 June 2017, at UFC 212.
11.
Paulo Costa won the fight via TKO in the second round.
12.
Paulo Costa faced Hendricks on 4 November 2017, at UFC 217.
13.
Paulo Costa won the fight via TKO in the second round.
14.
Paulo Costa was expected to face Uriah Hall on 21 April 2018, at UFC Fight Night 128.
15.
Paulo Costa won the fight via technical knockout in round two.
16.
Paulo Costa was scheduled to face Yoel Romero on 3 November 2018, at UFC 230.
17.
Paulo Costa was removed from the card for an undisclosed reason.
18.
Paulo Costa was fined a third of his purse of the fights, which were reverted to his opponents.
19.
The suspension was retroactive to 10 August 2018, and Paulo Costa was eligible to fight again in February 2019.
20.
Paulo Costa finally faced Romero on 17 August 2019, at UFC 241.
21.
Paulo Costa lost the fight via technical knockout in the second round, making this his first professional loss.
22.
Paulo Costa was scheduled to face Robert Whittaker on 17 April 2021 at UFC on ESPN 22.
23.
Paulo Costa was scheduled to face Jared Cannonier on 21 August 2021 at UFC on ESPN 28.
24.
Paulo Costa later claimed he never signed the bout agreement and cited issues with his payment, while not confirming them as the reason for his withdrawal.
25.
Paulo Costa faced Marvin Vettori in a light heavyweight bout on 23 October 2021 at UFC Fight Night 196, which was scheduled as a middleweight contest and briefly changed to a catchweight bout.
26.
Paulo Costa received widespread criticism for showing up twenty-five pounds over the middleweight limit.
27.
Paulo Costa was scheduled to face former UFC Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold on July 30,2022, at UFC 277.
28.
Paulo Costa was scheduled to face Robert Whittaker on February 12,2023, at UFC 284.
29.
However, Paulo Costa disputed the official announcement by the promotion indicating he had never signed a contract and the fight would not take place.
30.
Paulo Costa was scheduled to face Ikram Aliskerov on July 29,2023 at UFC 291.
31.
On May 31,2022, Paulo Costa was questioned by the police in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, regarding an incident in which he was accused of striking a nurse with his elbow during a dispute over a COVID-19 vaccination card.
32.
Paulo Costa claimed he was already vaccinated but had not had it recorded on his vaccination card, and that he asked the nurse to sign his card.
33.
The nurse claimed that Paulo Costa was not vaccinated and he refused the vaccination, and that he attempted to flee with the filled-out vaccination card without the shot being administered.
34.
Paulo Costa went on to say that in a measure to prevent him from leaving, she grabbed Costa by the arm and she was hit with an elbow to her face, which caused her lips to become swollen.