Tomorrow night in the main event of UFC Vegas 41, we will see a battle of former middleweight title challengers. The Italian Dream Marvin Vettori (17-4-1) takes on Brazil’s Paulo Costa (13-1) in the main event.
The last time we saw both fighters was against Israel Adesanya. Vettori lost a decision to Adesanya a few months ago while Costa was knocked out by Adesanya last October. Now, both former title challengers will look to get back on track at UFC Vegas 41.
This fight has taken a lot of turns this week due to the weight. Costa announced just a couple of days ago that he wasn’t going to make 185 pounds at UFC Vegas 41. The two men signed up for a middleweight contest, but Costa said he couldn’t make the weight.
Vettori agreed to meet Costa at 195 pounds and the two signed a deal giving Vettori 20% of Costa’s fight purse. Then, we found out that Costa couldn’t make 195 pounds. From there, the fight shifted to a light heavyweight contest and the two men weighed in today.
UFC Vegas 41 Prediction
Paulo Costa has become his own worst enemy leading up to UFC Vegas 41. To be completely honest, I don’t know what to expect from him tomorrow night and that really puts me off from wanting to predict him.
If we were to see the best version of Paulo Costa tomorrow, we’d see a guy who pushes forward non-stop while throwing fight ending power. However, I don’t know if he’s the same guy after he lost to Israel Adesanya.
That loss to Stylebender really seems to have done a number on Costa. When it comes to Vettori, I’m expecting a lot of pressure from him and I really expect him to push the grappling early on. I think Vettori is going to try and make UFC Vegas 41 as dirty as possible.
Costa has the power to end the fight, but I just don’t have the confidence in him to pick him at the moment. I think we are going to see a relatively flat Paulo Costa which will result in Marvin Vettori winning a decision. I could be completely wrong, but I just don’t know what to expect from Costa at this point.
Prediction: Marvin Vettori by Decision