Paulo Costa

Compare with another fighter

Paulo Costa

Nickname“Borrachinha”

Record

16-4

Streak

W2

Age

35

Date of birth

Apr 21, 1991

Fighting out of: State of Minas Gerais
Born: Brazil
Camp: Team Borracha
Weight class: Light Heavyweight
Height: 6'1" · 185 cm
Reach: 72" · 183 cm
Stance: Orthodox
Last fight: Apr 11, 2026

UFC fight history

ResultOpponentMethodDetailEvent

Azamat Murzakanov

#6Azamat Murzakanov

Light Heavyweight · KO/TKO · Kick to Head At Distance · R3 · 1:23

UFC 327: Prochazka vs. Ulberg · Apr 11, 2026

Kick to Head At Distance

UFC 327: Prochazka vs. Ulberg

Roman Kopylov

#14Roman Kopylov

Middleweight · Decision · Unanimous · R3 · 5:00

UFC 318: Holloway vs. Poirier 3 · Jul 19, 2025

UFC 318: Holloway vs. Poirier 3

Sean Strickland

#1Sean Strickland

Middleweight · Decision · Split · R5 · 5:00

UFC 302: Makhachev vs. Poirier · Jun 1, 2024

UFC 302: Makhachev vs. Poirier

Robert Whittaker

#3Robert Whittaker

Middleweight · Decision · Unanimous · R3 · 5:00

UFC 298: Volkanovski vs. Topuria · Feb 17, 2024

UFC 298: Volkanovski vs. Topuria

Luke Rockhold

#3Luke Rockhold

Middleweight · Decision · Unanimous · R3 · 5:00

UFC 278: Usman vs. Edwards · Aug 20, 2022

UFC 278: Usman vs. Edwards

Marvin Vettori

Light Heavyweight · Decision · Unanimous · R5 · 5:00

UFC Fight Night: Costa vs. Vettori · Oct 23, 2021

UFC Fight Night: Costa vs. Vettori

Israel Adesanya

CIsrael AdesanyaTitle

Middleweight · KO/TKO · Punch to Head At Distance · R2 · 3:59

UFC 253: Adesanya vs. Costa · Sep 26, 2020

Punch to Head At Distance

UFC 253: Adesanya vs. Costa

Yoel Romero

Middleweight · Decision · Unanimous · R3 · 5:00

UFC 241: Cormier vs. Miocic 2 · Aug 17, 2019

UFC 241: Cormier vs. Miocic 2

Uriah Hall

Middleweight · KO/TKO · Punches to Body At Distance · R2 · 2:38

UFC 226: Miocic vs. Cormier · Jul 7, 2018

Punches to Body At Distance

UFC 226: Miocic vs. Cormier

Johny Hendricks

Johny Hendricks

Middleweight · KO/TKO · Punches to Head At Distance · R2 · 1:23

UFC 217: Bisping vs. St-Pierre · Nov 4, 2017

Punches to Head At Distance

UFC 217: Bisping vs. St-Pierre

Oluwale Bamgbose

Oluwale Bamgbose

Middleweight · KO/TKO · Punches to Head On Ground · R2 · 1:06

UFC 212: Aldo vs. Holloway · Jun 3, 2017

Punches to Head On Ground

UFC 212: Aldo vs. Holloway

Garreth McLellan

Garreth McLellan

Middleweight · KO/TKO · Punch to Head In Clinch · R1 · 1:17

UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Gastelum · Mar 11, 2017

Punch to Head In Clinch

UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Gastelum

Outside the UFC

8-0across 8 bouts · 8 promotions · wins by 7 KO · 1 subJungle Fight 90 · Jungle Fight 87 · Jungle Fight 84 · FTF 11 · FTF 9 +3

Res	Opponent	Outcome	Finish	Rd	Time	Promotion	Date
W	Adriano Balby16-3	KO/TKO	Punch	R1	3:25	Jungle Fight 90	Sep 3, 2016
W	Eduardo Ramon26-10	Submission	Rear-Naked Choke	R1	2:40	Jungle Fight 87	May 21, 2016
W	Bruno Assis13-7	KO/TKO	Punches	R1	1:17	Jungle Fight 84	Dec 5, 2015
W	Wagner Silva10-8	KO/TKO	Punches	R1	4:37	FTF 11	Apr 24, 2015
W	Gerson da Silva Conceicao8-8	KO/TKO	Doctor Stoppage	R1	5:00	FTF 9	Dec 19, 2014
W	Fabio Moreira2-8	KO/TKO	Punches	R1	1:26	BH Fight	Nov 1, 2013
W	Ademilson Borges Duarte1-2	KO/TKO	Head Kick and Punches	R1	0:32	Upper Fight	Jun 15, 2013
W	Teo Esteves0-1	KO/TKO	Head Kick and Punches	R1	2:08	MMA Total Combat	Feb 25, 2012

Non-UFC bouts (regional/other promotions) — shown for context only, excluded from Schedule Score, striking/grappling rates, and every UFC-scoped metric.

Career striking

OverallB63rd

59%934 / 1,576

Striking accuracy

49%

Striking defense

Sig. strikes / min+0.19 differential

Landed6.15

Absorbed5.96

63%str + td

Defensive rating

Striking edge

+8%accuracy vs opp. landing

worseevenbetter

Strike maps

Sig. strikes by target

Head45%70th422
Body41%99th379
Leg14%73rd133

Color = division rank · green elite → red low · % = share of strikes

Sig. strikes by position

88%Standing

Standing88%826
Clinch5%49
Ground6%59

Striking zones

Per-15-minute breakdown — where this fighter lands, and where they get hit.

UFC only

Paulo Costa

Paulo Costa

Landed per 15

Head

A

76th

41.7

76th

Body

A+

100th

37.5

100th

Leg

A

78th

13.1

78th

Ranks are division percentiles — e.g. 90th = top 10% of the weight class. Higher is always better: on “absorbed” rows the rank is inverted, so a high rank means they get hit less.

Absorbed per 15

Head

F

14th

58.1

14th

Body

F

10th

19.3

10th

Leg

F

23rd

12.0

23rd

Ranks are division percentiles — e.g. 90th = top 10% of the weight class. Higher is always better: on “absorbed” rows the rank is inverted, so a high rank means they get hit less.

Career totals — landed / attempted

Landed (career total)

Zone	Per 15	Landed	Attempted	Accuracy
Head	41.7	422	966	44%
Body	37.5	379	460	82%
Leg	13.1	133	150	89%

Absorbed (career total)

Zone	Per 15	Landed	Attempted	Accuracy
Head	58.1	588	1,359	43%
Body	19.3	195	293	67%
Leg	12.0	121	135	90%

UFCStats career rates, per 15 minutes. Percentiles vs the division; absorbed is inverted so higher is better.

Pace & fade

Round-by-round work rate, and whether they fade.

UFC only

Paulo Costa

Paulo Costa

12 UFC bouts (per‑round) · 152 min

94%

R3 pace · 7 bouts

Costa builds (+3% per round through round 5). Within fights that reached round 3, Costa keeps 94% of round-1 output by round 3 (7 bouts).

Paulo Costa

Costa ▲ BUILDSOutput / min

Rounds backed by fewer than 2 bouts are drawn smaller and dimmed with an n= count — a deep round seen in one or two fights is a thin sample, not a settled rate. Per-round bout counts are in the breakdown below.

Full per-round breakdown

What drives the pace · per round

The composite output line above blends these three inputs — splitting them out shows whether the work rate is built on striking volume, takedown pressure, or top control, and which input fades.

Sig. strikes landed

Paulo Costa

Costalanded / min

Takedown attempts

Paulo Costa

Costaattempts / min

Control time

Paulo Costa

Costa% of round

Round	Output / min	Sig landed / min	Sig absorbed / min	TD att / min	Control	Bouts
R1	6.4	6.1	4.9	0.04	7%	12
R2	6.7	6.4	6.1	0.05	3%	11
R3	6.2	5.5	6.0	0.10	9%	7
R4	5.9	5.9	8.8	0.00	0%	2
R5	7.9	7.7	8.0	0.00	4%	2

Output / minis the headline work rate — significant strikes landed, plus 3 per takedown attempt, plus one per 15 seconds of control — so a takedown-and-grind round isn’t scored as idle the way bare striking volume would. The remaining columns are its components. Per-round rates use UFCStats per-round data (available for ~95% of bouts since 2008). Each round’s rates are averaged only over bouts that reached that round, so the bout count shrinks as rounds deepen. The final round of a finished fight is pro-rated by its actual length.

Schedule Score

Opponent quality, ranked across the UFC. Recent fights weighted heavier.

UFC only

Paulo Costa

Paulo Costa

12 resolved UFC bouts · 8 ranked at the time

Schedule Score

74/ 100

0255075100

Schedule strength

A+

96th

76%

96th

Win quality

A+

90th

58%

90th

Opponent quality distribution

Every UFC bout, grouped by who the opponent was at the time.

4

1

3

1

1

2

ChampionHeld the title in this weight class at the time
Top-5Ranked #1–#5 at the time
Ranked 6–15Ranked #6–#15 at the time
Cross-div champHeld a title in another weight class at the time
Cross-div rankedRanked #1–#15 in another division at the time
UnprovenFewer than 3 fights, or sub-.40 win rate

Tier	Bouts	Record	Win rate
Champion	4	1-3	25%
Top-5	1	1-0	100%
Ranked 6–15	3	3-0	100%
Cross-div champ	1	1-0	100%
Cross-div ranked	1	0-1	0%
Unproven	2	2-0	100%

Highest-quality opponents

Toughest opponents on the scheduleScore, scored at the time of the fight.

All bouts — opponent quality bout-by-bout

Res	Opponent	Tier	Score	Date
W	Azamat Murzakanov#6	Ranked 6–15	75	Apr 11, 2026
W	Roman Kopylov#14	Ranked 6–15	62	Jul 19, 2025
L	Sean Strickland#1	Champion	97	Jun 1, 2024
L	Robert Whittaker#3	Champion	94	Feb 17, 2024
W	Luke Rockhold#3	Champion	94	Aug 20, 2022
L	Marvin Vettori	Cross-div ranked	45	Oct 23, 2021
L	Israel AdesanyaCHAMP	Champion	100	Sep 26, 2020
W	Yoel Romero#2	Top-5	89	Aug 17, 2019
W	Uriah Hall#9	Ranked 6–15	71	Jul 7, 2018
W	Johny Hendricks	Cross-div champ	67	Nov 4, 2017
W	Oluwale Bamgbose	Unproven	8	Jun 3, 2017
W	Garreth McLellan	Unproven	8	Mar 11, 2017

Per-bout quality scoring: champion = 100; same-division ranks 1–5 = 90 → 78 linear; ranks 6–15 = 75 → 60 linear; cross-division champion = 78; cross-division ranked = 45; title-fight challenger (no rank signal) = 50, bumped to 65 when opp had an elite career UFC record at the time. Unranked opponents are scored on UFC record-at-time (long-tenured vet 60, contender-level 45, established 30, building 18, unproven 8). P4P top-10 at time adds +5; top-3 adds +8 (capped at 100). The Schedule Score combines schedule strength (65%) and quality wins (35%), then is held toward a rookie baseline for fighters with limited UFC experience so a thin résumé reads honestly low.

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