He's a very physically strong and athletic fighter, remember the early wrestling exchanges vs Yoel? He outmuscled Yoel Romero.
He actually has pretty technical striking by MMA standards, good hands and kicks, solid speed, very good power...Not necessarily one shot KO power, but that natural kind of power where everything he throws is heavy without having to load up into individual strikes. He throws good combinations, changes levels well and loves working the body. He's defensively responsible too.
He's a pressure fighter and uses it to his advantage, cuts off the cage well with roundhouse kicks and throws in flurries when he gets his opponents against the cage. He's always moving forward and not afraid to engage or close distance, comfortable in the pocket and under fire. Dudes got a granite chin, he knows it, hes undefeated and confident.
The guy is physically very strong, with a great base...no ones taking him down easily and early on in the fight Im not sure anyone can keep him down at 185 either. He is huge and musclebound and has shown cardio issues in the past, which Im not sure he can ever fully fix, improve sure but there's limits to someone so muscular cutting so much weight.
Vs Izzy, it will be interesting. In my opinion the closest thing to Costa Izzy has ever fought was Vettori and Gastelum, which were his two hardest fights in MMA. The pressure, speed, cutting off the cage and power can definitely cause Izzy problems. That said, an elite striker with a 7 or 8in reach advantage that likes to counter and has proven he can go 5 rounds vs a heavy hitting, stocky pressure fighter that has never fought 5 rounds and has slowed down in the 3rd? Also Costa offers no real threat of a takedown either.
That said, Izzy has been fighting a lot longer, Costa has been visibly improving while Izzy is a proven product. Thats a little bit of an X factor going into this fight too. Who do I think wins? Izzy but its a damn good fight.
