Paula Costa vs Marvin Vettori will now take place at a 195-pound catchweight, and the Brazilian will lose 20% of his fight purse after being unable — or unwilling — to make the 186-pound limit for his UFC Vegas 41 main event bout.
On Thursday, Yahoo Sports was first to report that Saturday night’s headlining bout inside the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nev. will go ahead as a catchweight matchup. The fight was originally set to be a middleweight clash between second-ranked Costa (13-1) and fifth-ranked Vettori (15-4-1). However, on Wednesday “The Eraser” informed reporters at the event’s media day that he was not going to make the 186-pound grace limit, and that he was weighing 211-pounds just three days out from the fight.
After having to renegotiate the terms of their deal, “Borrachinha” will lose 20% of his fight purse as a penalty for not being able to make the contracted weight for the fight.
Costa vs Vettori now a 195-pound catchweight at UFC Vegas 41
Costa has not fought in nearly 13 months, with injuries and a prolonged battle with COVID-19 causing him to drop out of two scheduled bouts. The last time he was seen inside the Octagon was in his UFC 253 title fight loss to middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. It is his longest extended absence from competition in his career.
Vettori is also returning to the Octagon on the heels of a championship loss to Adesanya. “The Italian Dream” lost by unanimous decision to “The Last Stylebender” at UFC 263 in June. The setback ended the best run of his UFC career after he won five straight, and scored victories over talented middleweights in Kevin Holland and Jack Hermansson.
UFC Vegas 41 takes place on Saturday, Oct. 23, in Las Vegas. The event is an afternoon affair that kicks of with preliminary action at 1 pm ET. The main card follows at 4 pm ET and the entire event will air exclusively on ESPN+.
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