Paulo Costa plans to KO Yoel Romero, swipe title from “regular fighter” Robert Whittaker

Paulo Costa has looked unstoppable since joining the UFC middleweight division, having authored decisive knockouts of Garreth McLellan, Oluwale Bamgbose, Johny Hendricks, and most recently, Uriah Hall.

On November 3, on the main card of UFC 230, Costa will be rewarded for this streak with the biggest test of his career: a showdown with recent middleweight title challenger Yoel Romero.

Speaking to MMAjunkie, Paulo Costa assured that he considers this fight the biggest fight of his career — but that that’s nothing new.

“This is the biggest challenge of my career,” Costa said of his bout with Yoel Romero. “But every fight is the biggest challenge, so I’m very confident. I will [knock him out].”

If Paulo Costa is able to make good on this prediction and knock out Yoel Romero, he will catapult himself right into middleweight title contention. In fact, he might just earn himself a middleweight title shot outright. This is a possibility he’s considered.

“After [I] win this fight, I will go to the title shot,” Costa said. “I believe that.”

Should Costa earn himself a fight with the middleweight champion Robert Whittaker, he doesn’t expect a particularly tough night of work. In fact, he’s really not all that impressed by the champion, who he seems to consider quite average.

“He’s a regular fight, for me,” Costa said of Robert Whittaker. “He’s not so good in the standup, or wrestling, or jiu-jitsu. He’s a regular fight, you know?”

Do you think Paulo Costa can take out Yoel Romero at UFC 230? If he does, do you think he deserves a fight with UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker? Join the debate in the comments section below!

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 8/13/2018.