Paulo Costa weighs 211 pounds ahead of UFC Vegas 41, can’t make middleweight for Marvin Vettori fight

Paulo Costa vs. Marvin Vettori will not be a Middleweight fight, assuming the UFC Vegas 41 headliner stays intact.

Costa (13-1) confirmed that he cannot make the 186-pound limit for a Middleweight fight on Saturday, an issue first highlighted by his opponent, Vettori (17-4-1). The former 185-pound title contender is confident the fight will move forward ... just at a Catchweight. UFC Vegas 41 is scheduled to take place on Sat., Oct. 23, 2021, inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, streaming online via ESPN+.

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EXCITING MIDDLEWEIGHT MATCHUP! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to its APEX venue in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sat., April 6, 2024, with an action-packed, five-round main event featuring No. 7-seeded 185-pound contender, Brendan Allen, running it back with No. 14-ranked Chris Curtis. “Action Man” — who is filling in for the “freak” injured Marvin Vettori — scored an upset win over Allen back in 2021 (watch it). In UFC Vegas 90’s ESPN+-streamed co-main event, former Featherweight hopeful, Alexander Hernandez, looks to get back on track at the expense of dangerous Octagon veteran, Damon Jackson.

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“My weight right now is 96kilos (or 211 pounds),” Costa said during the UFC Vegas 41 media day (h/t MMA Fighting). “What happened yesterday, [my manager] Wallid [Ismail] talked with some people with him, Ali [Abdelaziz], his manager I think, and it’s not on the schedule to make 185 [pounds] anymore. It’s another weight. I’m not exactly [sure] which weight yet.

“I think this fight will happen,” Costa said. “It just will not happen if he don’t want to fight me. Maybe we can do a catchweight 195 [pounds] maybe but I think make this fight [205 pounds] could be more exciting to the fans.”

Ismail expressed confidence that a compromise would be made.

“We’re going to finalize the deal, how it’s going to work, the catchweight, but let me arrive there,” Ismail told Helwani on Wednesday’s episode of The MMA Hour. “But, the most important now is [Costa] needs to give his best to show the world what he’s about. We cannot talk much, just the time of the fight. It’s going to be a catchweight, this is for sure.”

Costa (No. 2) and Vettori (No. 5) are both coming off losses to UFC Middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya.

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 41 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance on ESPN+ at 4 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 41: “Costa vs. Vettori” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.