News Paulo Costa vs. Robert Whittaker Targeted For March

[ignorant MMA fan]

Fine by me. I think Whittaker smokes him though.

Vettori can fight Cannonier or Till.

 

[Steve Fox]

If Izzy vacates this should be the title fight

Ofc not, since when is Costa champion material? Dude is a brawler.

 

[gaffbyknees2]

Rob deserves better.

 

[ExitLUPin]

I guess this means they really going forward with Jan/Izzy. Sucks for Glover because even if he tries to wait, Jiri &/or Rakic will elevate themselves into a #1 contender fight against him if either wins their next fight.

UNLESS, they do Izzy/Vettori 2, which seems highly unlikely. Vettori vs Cannonier makes sense, both having beaten Hermanson.

How would Jiri or Rakic elevate themselves over Glover with 1 more win? Glover has beaten Circunov, Krylov, Smith and Santos. Jiri would need 2 more ranked wins to pass him considering Volkan isn't a better win than Smith or Santos. Jimi and Smith are Rakic only ranked wins and he lost to Volkan so he's not on a streak or anything (I thought he won FWIW). He didn't even finish Smith like Glover did either

Neither guy is passing Glover with just 1 more win TBH

 

[Bowel-forged Stool]

Paulo gotta watch out for his booty again

it it happens again, he should just hang em up, wander into the rain forest and end it all

 

[pick999]

100% this fight gets delayed

 

[Finding Deebo]

I mean, I'd rather see Costa Vettori, but who else is there for Whittaker? Seems like he's in an odd spot.

 

[Casanova]

@Steve Fox when he went undefeated, beat Yoel and fought for the belt. He beat Yoel convincingly and hurt him several times, someone that had 3 title shots. He didn’t fight the way we usually see him against Izzy, he didn’t throw one punch

 

[Cynfocus]

I'm game.

 

[Steve Fox]

@Steve Fox when he went undefeated, beat Yoel and fought for the belt. He beat Yoel convincingly and hurt him several times, someone that had 3 title shots.

Costa was 5-0 in the UFC. Romero and Hall are probably his most sounding wins EVER (as in, his entire career), being that the Hendricks he fought was a shadow of his former self.

BTW..The UFC would never award Yoel a win by decision in a super disputed fight against Costa and the momentum he had.

 

[Joseph_McBride]

How would Jiri or Rakic elevate themselves over Glover with 1 more win? Glover has beaten Circunov, Krylov, Smith and Santos. Jiri would need 2 more ranked wins to pass him considering Volkan isn't a better win than Smith or Santos. Jimi and Smith are Rakic only ranked wins and he lost to Volkan so he's not on a streak or anything (I thought he won FWIW). He didn't even finish Smith like Glover did either

Neither guy is passing Glover with just 1 more win TBH

If Jiri KOs Reyes & Oezdemir back-to-back everyone will clamor for him to get a title shot & you know it.

If Rakic beats up Santos as impressively as Glover did, then he'll be coming off just as good of a win as Glover(obviously).

I'm sorry common sense escapes you.

 

[Brodie]

So who should Whitaker fight???? Someone please fill me in, bc the list is really really short. Especially since Izzy beat the crap out of him and is moving on. Why is Whitaker this untouchable dude that should only fight for the belt?? And i like Whitaker, but i'm totally down for this fight

No one, wait for the title fight. The Whittaker/Cannonier fight was being billed as number 1 contender fight.

I don't get it the notion that he only fights for the belt, he beat Till and Cannonier after the Izzy loss.

I don't care for the Izzy rematch either, but out of the top 5 guys he's the only guy currently deserving of a title shot (Vettori needs at least 1 more win imo)

 

[Chael_Sonnen]

WTF is this matchmaking. I hope Whittaker declines.

Paulo not only doesn't deserve the fight, Whittaker also deserves a TS. It's a double whammy.

Paulo should go fight Vettori, or Cannonier, or Till, or Hermansson.

 

[Casanova]

@Steve Fox Costa beat Yoel convincingly, it wasn’t close at all. Knocking out Hall is a good win as well.

 

[AmericanUppercut]

Costa should fight Cannonier.
Better match, and both coming off a loss.

 

[Joseph_McBride]

@Steve Fox when he went undefeated, beat Yoel and fought for the belt. He beat Yoel convincingly and hurt him several times, someone that had 3 title shots. He didn’t fight the way we usually see him against Izzy, he didn’t throw one punch

I scored it 29-28 for Costa(& I'm the biggest Romero fan ever) but it was hardly "convincing". In fact it was widely disputed.

 

[Chael_Sonnen]

No one, wait for the title fight. The Whittaker/Cannonier fight was being billed as number 1 contender fight.

I don't get it the notion that he only fights for the belt, he beat Till and Cannonier after the Izzy loss.

I don't care for the Izzy rematch either, but out of the top 5 guys he's the only guy currently deserving of a title shot (Vettori needs at least 1 more win imo)

I mean hell, the Till fight was for a titleshot, had Till won it. He had just beaten Gastelum decisively, after Gastelum had taken Izzy to a life or death decision.
Then Whittaker had to fight Cannonier, which I was fine with. 2 top 5 fights should be the standard for a guy who has just lost the belt.

But no more than that.

 

[Joseph_McBride]

Costa should fight Cannonier.
Better match, and both coming off a loss.

Costa/Cannonier & Rob/Vettori(#1 contender) do seem like the more reasonable fights to make. Hopefully matchmakers come to their senses.

 

[Casanova]

@Joseph_McBride it was convincing. Yoel only had 1 moment in the fight and it was more of a slip by Costa. The whole fight Costa is pressuring Yoel, in his face and battering him while Yoel sticks his tongue out to save face that he’s getting pummeled.

 

[ColombianFist]

kinda high risk for Whittaker IMO.

i think Rob takes it since Costa just goes forward but like Romero, he packs a lot of power.