After a vintage performance at UFC 318, what’s next for Paulo Costa?

In the co-main event of UFC 318 this past Saturday, we saw a middleweight showcase between two ranked contenders. Former title challenger Paulo Costa (15-4) took on a very dangerous striker in Roman Kopylov (14-4). Kopylov entered as the big betting favorite.

Over the past few years, we haven’t seen the best of Paulo Costa. The Costa that was undefeated on his way to challenging Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title. I was looking to see if Costa still had “The Eraser” in him and he showed that he did on Saturday night.

It’s not often that Costa will be the smaller middleweight but he appeared smaller than Kopylov in the octagon. Kopylov seemed fast but from the opening bell at UFC 318, this was all about Paulo Costa. Costa put on a clinic for the first two rounds where he rocked Kopylov multiple times and he lit him up with combinations. In the final round, Kopylov came on strong as Costa faded but it wasn’t enough and Costa get the big win.

What’s next after UFC 318?

This was a huge win for Paulo Costa and he showed that he can be a real contender at middleweight. Saturday’s version of Paulo Costa can definitely make a run in the middleweight division. With that being said, what should the UFC do with him next?

There are a couple of options that I personally like. An easy option would be looking to the prelims this past Saturday night and pairing Costa up with Brendan Allen. Allen is a couple of spots ahead of Costa in the rankings and like Costa, he snapped a losing streak at UFC 318.

It’s very easy match making in my opinion. That said, there is an under the radar option that I really like. While their first fight was not competitive, I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing a rematch between Costa and Israel Adesanya. Costa completely froze in their title fight and he didn’t look good at all.

If the version of Paulo Costa from UFC 318 shows up against Israel Adesanya now, that version can give Stylebender some problems. Adesanya is on his own losing streak which is why the fight makes sense even with the gap in the rankings.