Not everybody was a fan of Paulo Costa’s insane weight issues for his last fight, including Jose Aldo.
Cutting Corners Instead Of Weight
‘The Eraser’ seemingly erased his preparation to make 185lbs for his main event against Marvin Vettori in October. Arriving to media day, Costa said he would not make the middleweight limit by fight night. He offered to compete at a catchweight of 195lbs instead.
This wouldn’t go according to plan.
While the UFC did fine Costa for the short-notice change, the fight would not be contested at 195lbs. Costa decided he couldn’t make that weight either. Right before weigh-ins, Costa once again asked the UFC for another weight class. 205lbs.
Vettori, being the anytime, anywhere fighter he is, would accept. ‘The Italian Dream’ not only took the fight on Costa’s terms but he also won it in a unanimous decision.
Former UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo had no love for his fellow Brazilian about this debacle. Aldo has had his fair share of tough weight cuts but has never missed weight in the UFC, not even in his eventual move to bantamweight.
Lack Of Respect
Aldo saw Costa’s actions as disrespectful.
“Our obligation was to make weight,” Aldo told MMA Fighting. “If you don’t make weight, it’s lack of respect towards your opponent, the promotion, and the fans that are waiting for that. That’s how I was raised, that’s what made me the athlete I am today. To me, it was disrespectful. Even if he’s Brazilian, if could be a friend of mine or anything like that, if you ask me, I’d still say the same thing.
“The opponent goes through like two or three months preparing for a fight in one weight [class], goes on a diet, gets to fight week and starts hearing rumblings that this guy won’t make weight or whatever and starts losing focus. You begin to think not only about your weight, but if the actual fight is going to happen, if the guy will make weight, if he’s going up or going down.
“Even if there’s a fine, even if he gives up, I don’t know, 50 percent of his contact to the opponent, it still disturbs him. It disturbs [the fighter], disturbs the fans that are waiting, disturbs the journalists, disturbs everybody. You go to sleep with one situation and wake up in the morning and it has changed again, the fight is cancelled and then it’s confirmed again.”
Money Matters
Weight cutting isn’t the only problem Costa has had in 2021. Costa has pulled out of fights with Robert Whittaker and Jared Cannonier, back-to-back. He cited that he didn’t want to fight Cannonier because he wasn’t getting paid enough.
Aldo wasn’t happy to hear this either, especially since the weight issues followed Costa right after.
“If I were the promoter, I’d be very pissed,” Aldo added. “There’s no way you come talk to me tomorrow and ask for a pay raise if you can’t even fulfill your contract, right? I see that a lot these days. I see young fighters in the UFC that sometimes don’t fulfill what’s in their deals. If you sign an eight-fight contract making X [amount of money], man, you’ll make X during those eight fights, you can’t, after three fights… Or fight for the belt, get a title shot, and then you can say, ‘I deserve to make more because I’m doing this, this and this,’ and show the numbers.
“But to go there and not even make weight, that’s lack of respect. If you can’t [make weight], if it’s tough, move up a division. I say for myself. How many times I got real bad, Dede thinking about calling the doctor to [cancel] the fight and I said no, I always had to make weight and honor what I said. I would make weight no matter how. I got there dragged or carried, it doesn’t matter, but I made weight. I never left the UFC wondering whether or not I would make weight. With all the work, the exhaustion I had to make featherweight, I always went there and did it. I never lacked respect to my opponent, to fans or anyone else.”
Do You Agree With Jose Aldo?
