How does Paulo Costa get his fights against top 5?

[Urluberluu]

He is average, his last victory was against an old Rockhold and it was a decision.
Now he loses to Vettori number 5, he loses to Whittaker number 3 but still gets a fight against number one Strcikland

WTF

 

[Reach4theSky]

He's an exciting fighter, who has some decent wins. Sometimes that's all it takes. I stopped looking at rankings and fairness with regards to the UFC a long time ago..

 

[Buff]

He's really good at twitter, brah.

 

[Travis Alexander]

He is marketable and even in his losses he is extremely game. Each of the losses you listed he was close to victory in wildly exciting fights.

 

[Objectively Correct]

Hes good at fighting, thats probably a big factor.

 

[Davidjacksonjones]

He's the GOAT

 

[VinceArch]

How indeed.

 

[ryun253]

He shows up to fight and usually gives his best efforts to make a fight exciting

 

[NoSmilez]

He can be a contender if he gameplans a little more. He didn't have a bad showing against Rob considering he was out of competition for a while. He needs to work on scoring points and not tanking calf kicks.

 

[TheMadHatter]

the ufc likes his marketability. big muscles, good looks and trash talk online.

 

[JudoThrowFiasco]

He has never been blown out in a fight aside from Izzy. He's marketable, he engages with socials and almost always puts on exciting fights

 

[Wreckless]

He's the GOAT

 

[RockyLockridge]

he's handsome, has fun fights and makes funny social media posts.

 

[usernamee]

He shows up to fight and usually gives his best efforts to make a fight exciting

 

[Poirierfan]

He is average, his last victory was against an old Rockhold and it was a decision.
Now he loses to Vettori number 5, he loses to Whittaker number 3 but still gets a fight against number one Strcikland

WTF

Popularity, and Costa is above average. He could of just as easily got the nod against Rob. So no wtf as you stated.

 

[World eater]

He is actually a good fighter. Also, he renegotiated a deal a while ago, it would be weird for the UFC to pay him for fighting unranked guys.

 

[Rhood]

He's more marketable, more handsome, and more funnier than Du Plessis.
He's never in a boring fight. This is what fans care about the most.

 

[Kevin Sorbo]

Dude is exciting and he obviously has good enough skills to be top 10 or borderline top 10.

 

[pātrēärkē]

He's rarely if ever in a boring fight. That would have made him an icon in Pride just like Rampage was, big personality, entertaining fights, wins some and loses some.

Would you rather watch Belal fight?

 

[nonoob]

He has a great physique and is a good looking guy. Many fans love his social media presence and crazy humor. His fights are always banging and fun - except when Izzy took him to task. Always look forward both to his pre-fight trolling antics and his do-or-die fighting style.