Rumored Paulo Costa Vs Roman Kopylov is in the works for UFC 317 on June 28th

[Morris88]

Why the hell is Costa still signed?

Pretty privilege

 

[sonhow]

Costa didnt suck vs Robby

This could be close. Step up for Kop imo but he should win due to stylistic matchup.

 

[WillyWarminski]

Costa's "hard" kicks and cardio aren't really a thing to take him any further.
He is 34 in a few weeks. How long does he have left to milk his "juice" meme?

He hasn't finished an opponent in 7 years.
Prior to that he finished an out-of-date Hall and a bloated Hendricks.

He got found out against Muay Thai Marvin and went the distance with the ghost of Rockhold.
He's done, son!





Although I hope I'm wrong. I do enjoy watching him.

 

[Kwic]

If Costa doesn't come to bang this time again he is probably done.

 

[Conan the K-9]

I think Costa will come with a grapple heavy game plan this time, Roman will unfortunately turtle up again and Costa walks off with a win.

 

[Tweak896]

Costa shouldn't be favored over any MW at this point. He hasn't even proven to be a top10 MW at this stage

Only a win over Luke Rockhold since 2019...

 

[Young Calf Kick]

Kopylov about to beat the brakes off of that clown boy

(if clown boy doesn't pull out like he usually does)

 

[michhmoggan]

Fire

 

[JBJ was here]

Costa didnt suck vs Robby

He didn't suck, but he didn't exactly show any fight IQ either. In all of his decisions, win or lose, Costa hasn't fought round 3 or later like he was trying to win the fight, and the Whittaker fight is no exception. He doesn't seem to know what to do if he doesn't get an early finish, and he hasn't gotten an early finish in over six-and-a-half years. And it's not just that he gasses; although he certainly does slow down, he completely lacks any urgency, like his ego won't let him believe that maybe he needs to win a round or get a finish to win the fight.

 

[DiazSlap]

We are going to see the new, improved, morivated Costa…

J/k, he will go to another uneventful decision per usual…Izzy took his soul.

 

[Ozze]

Costa got his 15 minutes of fame already. Don't think he can offer much more.

 

[SalvadorAllende]

I don't think Kopylov has the power to stop Costa but he can outland him for the duration of the fight.

If vintage secret juice Paulo comes fight night he should win... the one that walked through Romero punches could eat Roman punches all night long.

 

[SalvadorAllende]

BTW.. book Kopylov vs that Shara dude next. That should be a lot of fun

 

[Safton]

Costa's fighting style has totally changed. He is no longer a terrifying pressure-fighter who marches guys down, drives them to the fence, and then unloads kicks & punches to the midsection until he can find a shot upstairs that puts them out. He used to be a marauder who would fearlessly melt guys through heavy-handed attrition.

After Adesanya he largely abandoned that gameplan (other than in the Rockhold fight where it made a brief reemergence). He doesn't press forward anymore. He has tried to become a technician, a sniper -- someone who glides around on the back foot and tries to pick his shots with an active jab and lots of kicks to the head & legs. He'll occasionally target the body, but not with anywhere near the same frequency or intent and IMO it's somewhat less effective if you're not the one pressuring the other guy taking away his breathing room. In some ways I don't mind this change, but in others I think Costa should get back to his roots... or at least find some kind of middle ground.

As for this fight, my gut inclination is to say Kopylov by Decision. He has proven difficult to beat in a striking match. He KO'd Curtis and was sort of putting it on Almeida even before he decided to gas himself out wrestling. I know Paulo has some opportunistic offensive wrestling in his arsenal, but I'm not convinced it's on Fluffy's level. Costa mostly uses his TDs to briefly reset the striking rhythm of a bout. We haven't really seen him succeed in taking someone down, holding them down, and working a legitimate top game on them. The Rockhold fight was the closest we came to that and... yeah. It wasn't much to write home about. It's not out of the question that Roman might threaten his own TDs, too. But I don't expect either man to have much success in that department frankly.

I think it'll be competitive, but I'm favoring the active guy with momentum.

As much as he has lost lately, it's important to remember that Costa's last 8 fights were against big names.
Kopylov has fought further down the ladder, and lost when he faced somewhat of a name in Fluffy.

Fluffy is beating everybody, so I don't know how big of a knock that is. Kopylov actually hurt him pretty bad in the opening round, too.

 

[CatchtheseHands]

Usually, but that fight isn't on him, Costa circled and retreated the entire fight

Costa circled and retreated cause of Sean's forward pressure.

 

[Ivancho]

costa is too inactive

 

[RockyLockridge]

Costa is gonna get fuckin worked.
Kapylov is gonna batter his asss

Kapylov went life and death with chris curtis in his last out I see him losing to costa

 

[NoStoneUnturned]

I look at Costa and note he has lost four of his last five. However those losses were to Strickland, Whittaker, Vettori (I'm sure he would like this one back), and Israel. So then I think well maybe its just a stretch of bad luck due to the caliber of those fighters. However, Costa just hasn't looked like his old self and I think that is what bothers me. With all that said I think Costa should beat Kopylov, but I'm no longer confident in his ability to summon that dude that went toe to toe with Yoel in a war. Guess we will find out.

 

[Kenny Powerth]

War Costa

 

[icerealm]

costa has already retired after israel fight, the fights after that show it all hes just in for the pay check