Paulo Costa Vs. Brunno Ferreira Breakdown

Paulo Costa will reportedly face Brunno Ferreira in a middleweight clash at UFC 326 on March 7 from Las Vegas. 

Costa enters the bout on a poor run of form, having won just one of his last three fights. This slump includes back-to-back decision losses to Robert Whittaker and Sean Strickland. However, Costa got back to winning ways with a unanimous decision victory over Roman Kopylov in July at UFC 318. Following that win, Costa called out the middleweight champ Khamzat Chimaev.

Chimaev has said he will make one more defense of his title before moving up to light heavyweight with an eye on a bout with the current champion Alex Pereira. Meanwhile, Ferreira is on a three-fight win streak, including a unanimous decision win over Marvin Vettori at UFC 323. The winner moves a step closer to a title shot.

The Approach

Costa will likely use his reach and body kicks to keep Ferreira at the end of his strikes. By targeting Ferreira’s body, Costa can sap his gas tank. Since Ferreira tends to move forward in straight lines, Costa’s best weapon will be his lead hook. We saw glimpses of this against Robert Whittaker—whenever the opponent enters the pocket aggressively, Costa plants his feet and fires back with power shots.

Ferreira’s tactic will revolve around “closing the gap.” He often uses feints to draw a strike from his opponent, then explodes forward with a 3-4 punch combination. He needs to get inside Costa’s kicking range to land his overhand right. While Costa has excellent takedown defense, he can force Costa to drop his hands, opening up the path for Ferreira’s power shots to the head.