UFC 318 Co-Main Event Preview and Prediction: Paulo Costa – Roman Kopylov

In the co-main event of UFC 318, we are going to see a fun middleweight matchup between two ranked contenders. Former title challenger and 13th ranked Paulo Costa (14-4) is back as he takes on a dangerous striker in 14th ranked Roman Kopylov (14-3).

Starting with Kopylov, this is a massive opportunity for him getting to fight a big name in a co-main event on a PPV. Kopylov got off to a rough start in the UFC losing his first two fights after entering the promotion undefeated. However, since those losses, he’s gone 6-1 with five knockouts. Most recently, he stopped Chris Curtis in the final seconds of their fight back in January.

He’ll be standing across from Paulo Costa tomorrow night. Back in 2019, Paulo Costa was a destroyer and he was undefeated. I actually thought he had a great chance to dethrone Israel Adesanya when they fought for the middleweight title back in 2020 on Fight Island. However, Adesanya embarrassed Costa and finished him in the second round.

From that fight, Costa’s UFC run has been more about cancellations than actual fights. Since the start of 2021, Costa has fought four times and he’s had multiple cancellations. When he has fought, he’s gone just 1-3 with his lone win being over Luke Rockhold. The last time we saw Costa was just over a year ago when he lost a decision to Sean Strickland.

UFC 318 Prediction

If I’m being completely honest, I just don’t know what to expect from Paulo Costa. I haven’t known what to expect from Costa for years at this point. When he was at his peak, Costa was a destroyer who combined solid striking technique with incredible power and pressure. He would track down his opponents and unload everything he has.

However, the lack of time inside the octagon and his last fight against Sean Strickland really doesn’t give me a lot to go off of. On pure technique, Roman Kopylov is the better striker and if this is a technical fight, Kopylov is going to win at UFC 318. Costa has to make this a war and mix in some clinch work if he wants to win tomorrow night.

I’m just not convinced that old Costa is still there and I think he’ll be content just fighting on the outside with Kopylov. In that style of fight, Kopylov will poke holes in Costa’s game and he’ll get the better of the exchanges. I’m not convinced we will see a finish, but I like Roman Kopylov to get the win.

Prediction: Roman Kopylov by Decision