Despite changing the weight class just one week before the fight, Marvin Vettori survived a wild brawl with Paulo Costa to take the win via unanimous decision.
It all started when Paulo Costa showed up to the weigh-ins badly overweight (205 pounds) and admitted that he could not cut his weight down to 186 pounds. The Italian Dream never backed out of the fight and agreed to the new terms as the official weight went on from 185 to 195 and eventually 205 (light heavyweight).
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After the controversial fight week thanks to Costa, the Brazilian went on to charge Vettori as soon as he entered the octagon, forcing security to hold both men in their corners. As soon as the bell rang, we saw Vettori pile on the pressure on his opponent, landing combinations but Costa remained in the fight with his heavy punches and clean head kicks. In the second round, Costa was penalised for poking Vettori in the eye and as a result, he lost a couple of points. In round 3, Costa took things to the canvas as he attempted a guillotine choke but failed which allowed Vettori to get back on top and continued to put pressure on a gassed Costa.
Paulo Costa did not back down despite being fatigued and continued to trade shots and land his deadly leg kicks in the final round of the fight. Vettori was able to survive a last charge from Costa to get the fight to the scorecards where a win for Vettori seemed certain. The official scorecards read 48-46 on all three cards for a win to Vettori via Unanimous decision.
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In the post-fight octagon interview, Marvin Vettori said, ”He should have made weight, you know. He should respect all of us. But I get to buy myself another watch with his money. I still got the win and I’m proud of it.”
What’s next for Marvin Vettori?
Marvin Vettori who picked up an impressive win over #2 middleweight Paulo Costa in a Light Heavyweight bout and finds himself in a very weird spot as he is 0 – 2 against middleweight champion Israel Adesanya which makes it clear that he won’t be getting a title shot anytime soon unless he manages to get another impressive winning streak. A clear fight for Marvin right now would be fighting #7 ranked middleweight Sean Strickland sometime next year.
[Image Credit: Marvin Vettori]
Shashank Iyer