Not only did Marvin Vettori claim a unanimous decision win over Paulo Costa last night (Sat., Oct. 23, 2021) at UFC Vegas 41 in Las Vegas, but “Italian Dream” received considerable praise from UFC president Dana White after the fight.
Vettori, who was coming off a loss to Israel Adesanya at UFC 263 back in June, really came through for the promotion this week. Due to weight issues surrounding Costa’s camp the fight needed to be moved from 185 pounds to 190 pounds, and then moved up again to 205 pounds. According to White, Vettori was incredible to deal with despite all the changes and never once left the fight in doubt.
“We were trying to keep this fight alive and make sure that it happened, and we couldn’t have done it without a guy like Vettori,” said White during the UFC Vegas 41 post-fight press conference (replay HERE). “Vettori acted like an absolute professional, stud, a guy that’s incredible to work with. That’s why this fight happened.”
White later confirmed how much each fighter weighed when the main event began at UFC Vegas 41.
“Vettori was 208 and Costa was 220,” he said.
Despite the difference in weight Vettori was able to handle Costa’s pressure and power inside of the cage. Costa did impress with his five-round conditioning, but Vettori’s chin held up under the fire and it allowed him to outpoint the Brazilian striker on the feet.
“Again, you have to give all the credit to Vettori,” White said. “He was willing to fight at any weight and didn’t let this stuff mess with his head. At the end of the day, it’s all about the fight. They both fought their ass off. Costa looked better in the fifth round than he did in the first round, so he was definitely in shape. When a guy comes in that heavy, you have to question whether he’s in shape or not. He was in shape.”
Costa, who has now lost his last two Octagon appearances, was hoping to eventually fight his way back to a middleweight title rematch with Adesanya. But after forcing the promotion to switch his main event with Vettori to 205 pounds White is planning on keeping “Borrachinha” in the light heavyweight division moving forward.
“We absolutely tell you where to fight when this happens,” White stated firmly. “He’s gonna have to fight at 205.”
For complete UFC Vegas 41 results and coverage click here.