Marvin Vettori vs. Paulo Costa confirmed as 195-pound catchweight fight in UFC Vegas 41
Prior to their battle in the UFC Vegas 41 main event, Marvin Vettori and Paulo Costa have agreed to a catchweight match. UFC officials confirmed to MMA Fighting on Thursday that the Saturday headliner will now be fought at 195 pounds, with Costa giving up 20% of his purse to Vettori in order to re-book the fight.
Yahoo! Sports was the first to report on the adjustment.
Costa arrived on fight week much over the 186-pound limit allowed for a non-title event, despite the fight being advertised as a middleweight fight. Costa stated during the UFC Vegas 41 media day that he weighed about 211 pounds and that he had no intention of reducing his weight to the middleweight limit.
In order to move forward, he begged Vettori for a concession to make their fight a catchweight or perhaps bump up to 205 pounds.
Costa stated on Wednesday, “I believe this fight will take place.” “If he doesn’t want to fight me, it’s not going to happen.” Perhaps a catchweight of 195 [pounds] might be used, but I believe that making this bout [205 pounds] would be more thrilling for the viewers.
You heard @MarvinVettori, #UFCVegas41 starts at a SPECIAL TIME this Saturday β°
— UFC (@ufc) October 22, 2021
[ #UFCVegas41 | Saturday | ππ§ππ‘ππ’π¨ 1π₯π’ππ | ππππ£ πΎππ§π 4π₯π’ππ | Live on ESPN+ ] pic.twitter.com/WXGbvyUUFW
βMore explosive fight cause I want to go bring the fight for him. Maybe he wants to bring the fight to me. I think with both guys heavy, this knockout can happen easily.β
Vettori, for one, had no intention of withdrawing from the bout, but he needed to know the goal weight because he was already losing weight in order to compete at middleweight.
Vettori’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, told MMA Fighting late Wednesday night that they had agreed to a catchweight, but that they were still waiting for word from Costa and his side on whether the fight would go on as planned.
All parties have now agreed to a 195-pound catchweight bout, with Vettori earning a percentage of Costa’s money as a penalty.
Vettori and Costa will compete on the scales from Las Vegas on Friday morning, with the Nevada Athletic Commission in charge of the proceedings. Costa could face extra fines or penalties from the commission if he fails to meet the 195-pound restriction.