Paulo Costa (right) taunts Yoel Romero in the third round. Photo: AFP
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https://scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3023281/ufc-241-paulo-costa-beats-yoel-romero Mixed Martial Arts
UFC 241: Paulo Costa beats Yoel Romero by unanimous decision in explosive fight
- Brazilian phenom demands middleweight title shot after biggest win of his UFC career against No 2-ranked ‘Soldier of God’
- Sodiq Yusuff secures TKO against Gabriel Benitez as Derek Brunson sees off Ian Heinisch
Paulo Costa throws a punch at Yoel Romero in the third round. Photos: AFP
UFC 241 may have had Daniel Cormier against Stipe Miocic in the main event, and Nate Diaz fighting Anthony Pettis, but it was another bout that many fans were looking forward to most. And Yoel Romero versus Paulo Costa did not disappoint.
One of the greatest fighters yet to win a UFC belt, No 2-ranked middleweight Romero (13-4) took on No 7 Costa (13-0) and the fight was as explosive as we expected. It went the distance with Costa taking a unanimous decision at the Honda Centre in Anaheim, California.
All three judges scored the fight 29-28 in favour of “The Eraser” – his first career decision – with Romero looking bemused, and the crowd erupted into boos.
“I trained my best for the fight, to fight against this beast, Yoel Romero is a real beast,” Costa said in his post-fight interview inside the Octagon before embracing the Cuban.
“I come here for one thing, to take my belt, I’ll be waiting for [Israel] Adesanya against [Robert] Whittaker. After this fight I want my chance to prove I’m the champion.”
The undefeated Brazilian phenom Costa was 4-0 in the UFC coming into the fight, with all of those wins by knockout or TKO, but he had yet to be truly tested. The 28-year-old certainly had has hands full here.
The 42-year-old Romero, an Olympic silver medallist with Cuba in freestyle wrestling at the 2000 Sydney Games, got clipped early then dropped Costa himself as the crowd roared its approval after some furious early exchanges.
The fight was briefly paused after a low blow by Costa with just under two minutes to go in the first round. Both men kept landing on each other in the second round, with Costa going longer than he had ever been before in a UFC fight.
Costa’s volume began to wane in the final round, where there was another pause after an eye poke by Romero, but it was the Brazilian who came out on top on the scorecards.
Paulo Costa throws a punch in the second round against Yoel Romero.
“before the fight I was very upset with Romero because he say s*** about my name,” Costa said in his post-fight press conference.
“He said I fail on Usada tests. But it’s not true, I proved that I never fail. After the fight I think these things go to the past and just respect for this fighter.
“Not as a human, because I don’t know him so much, but the athlete I need to respect. He’s 42 years old and an amazing fighter.”
Paulo Costa says he wants the middleweight title next.
Earlier, “Super” Sodiq Yusuff (10-1) stretched his win streak to five fights with a first-round TKO against Gabriel Benitez (21-7).
After Benitez had landed his left hand three times in a fast-paced fight, the Nigerian hit a counter right hook to drop him late in the first round. Yusuff followed up with some ground and pound with the referee stepping in at 4:14.
“I didn’t want to take as many hits but it’s a blessing to fight on the card. I’m on a pay-per-view card with Stipe and DC. My job was the steal the show, I think I did a good job of that,” Yusuff told Joe Rogan in the Octagon.
Sodiq Yusuff pounds Gabriel Benitez on the ground for the win.
“I’m Nigerian baby, we’re built for struggle. This is what we do. I’ve faced hard stuff in real life, this fight was nothing different.
“I could have fought a safe technical fight but I wanted to shoot for that bonus and I want you all to remember my name.”
In the first fight of the main card, Derek Brunson secured his 11th UFC win with a unanimous decision against Ian Heinisch.
Derek Brunson kicks Ian Heinisch in the first round.
“The Hurricane” had got off to a 2-0 start in the UFC since winning a contract in Las Vegas last year, but middleweight veteran Brunson had answers for everything he threw and earned scores of 29-28 on all three of the judges’ scorecards.
Brunson looked sharper after a five-week training camp under the tutelage of Henri Hooft at Hard Knocks 365 in Fort Lauderdale Florida.
On the prelims, debutant Khama Worthy pulled off a huge upset against Devonte Smith by TKO at 4:15 in the first round of their lightweight contest.
Khama Worthy throws a punch at Devonte Smith in the first round. Photo: AFP
Cory Sandhagen defeated Raphael Assuncao by unanimous decision in their bantamweight bout, with two judges scoring it 30-27 and the other 29-28.
Drakkar Klose also got a unanimous decision against Christos Giagos by unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the lightweight fight 29-28 for Klose.