Paulo Costa’s statement win over Azamat Murzakanov at UFC 327 hit hard enough that Joe Rogan is already talking like the Brazilian should stay at 205 for good. Rogan watched Costa eat big shots, keep walking forward, and close the show with his first finish since 2018, then came away convinced Borrachinha may have finally found the right division.
On his podcast, Rogan did not hedge at all.
“He looked f*cking phenomenal!” Rogan said on his podcast. “If I was in his corner, I would say, ‘Dude, never go back to middleweight. You are a f*cking light heavyweight champion.’ He’s a light heavyweight champion!”
Watch the full discussion below:
Rogan sees a real opening for Paulo Costa at light heavyweight
Rogan pushed the idea further when he looked at the title picture. With Carlos Ulberg expected to spend significant time out after knee surgery, he argued Costa could slide right into serious business at 205.
“And while this guy, while Carlos Ulberg is going to be out for a year, because he’s going to have to get ACL reconstruction, Paulo Costa could be the interim light heavyweight champion. No doubt. I really think he could pull that off. At light heavyweight, he’s f*cking terrifying. He looks like the Paulo Costa of old, when he was destroying people on his way up through the ranks.”
That old run is why this performance landed so hard. Costa opened his UFC career by smashing through Garreth McLellan, Oluwale Bamgbose, Johny Hendricks and Uriah Hall, then won a war with Yoel Romero before getting stopped by Israel Adesanya in his failed middleweight title bid. Since then, the results were uneven, but the move to light heavyweight looked cleaner, stronger, and a lot more natural, which also backed up what Costa said in his own push for bigger fights at 205 after UFC 327.
“I think Paulo Costa against Azamat was the best Paulo Costa I’ve seen in a long time,” Rogan said. “I mean, he looked better because he looked physically stronger. Being at light heavyweight didn’t at all look like a stretch. In fact, it looked like a better place for him.
“When I was listening to the sound of his punches and his kicks, it was even harder than before. He didn’t look fat at all. He looked like a perfect light heavyweight. I think he’s probably, at this stage of his life — because I think Paulo’s like 34 now — it would be way better for him to compete at light heavyweight. And there’s not a lot of people waiting in line. …
“When you look at Paulo Costa’s performances, and then you look at this last one, you’re like, that might be the best Paulo Costa of all-time. He looked f*cking phenomenal, and he ate some big shots from Azamat and didn’t even flinch. Didn’t even flinch!”
Rogan even threw out a specific interim-title idea.
“And then Paulo Costa, interim champ,” Rogan said. “If I was the f*cking captain of the ship, that’s what I would do. ‘Hey Paulo, you’re a f*cking star.’ Maybe [Magomed] Ankalaev? I know that [Alex] Pereira just knocked him out, but he deserves to be in it.”
If the UFC wants to keep the division moving while Ulberg heals up, Costa suddenly looks like a real option. With Magomed Ankalaev and Alex Pereira still hovering over the division, 205 is not short on chaos.
#UFC327 Official Result: Paulo Costa (@BorrachinhaMMA) defeats Azamat Murzakanov by TKO (head kick) at 1:23 of Round 3.
Complete Main Card Results ➡️ https://t.co/U6CYWf70dX
Complete Scorecards ➡️ https://t.co/8cYDYBcFIZ pic.twitter.com/Na8itaAkIo
— UFC News (@UFCNews) April 12, 2026
