Paulo Costa vs Marvin Vettori fight set at 195-pound catchweight limit

The much-anticipated middleweight matchup between Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori has been finally set to take place at 195-pound catchweight. After juggling between 195 and 205 weight category the UFC has finally made the bout to take place at 195 pounds. UFC will also make Paulo Costa forfeit 20% of his purse to Vettori. Both the fighters and their teams have agreed for the same. The issue regarding the weight came up as Paulo Costa revealed that he won’t be making the 185 pounds mark during the weigh-ins as he was very much overweight. He asked Marvin Vettori to accept the fight at catchweight which Vettori did and now the fight will take place on scheduled at UFC Vegas 41 on October 23.

UFC officials confirm, Saturday's main event between Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori has been changed to a 195-pound catchweight and Costa will forfeit 20 percent of his purse to Vettori.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) October 21, 2021

“UFC officials confirm, Saturday’s main event between Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori has been changed to a 195-pound catchweight and Costa will forfeit 20 percent of his purse to Vettori.”

The fight was scheduled for the middleweight category as both the fighter are top-ranked middleweights in the world. Both Costa and Vettori are coming off losses in their title fights against the middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. During the prefight Media day, Paulo Costa revealed that he is overweight and he won’t be able to make the 185 pounds limit and suggested that the fight should take place at catchweight.

“I think this fight will happen – it just will not happen if he does not want to fight me,” Costa said on Wednesday’s media day. “Maybe we can do a catchweight. Ninety kilos (approximately 198 pounds), maybe. I think making this fight (at a catchweight) could be more exciting to the fans – more explosive fight because I want to go bring the fight for him. Maybe he wants to bring the fight to me. So, I think with both guys heavy, this knockout can happen easily.”

“It’s not on the schedule to make 185 anymore,” Costa said. “It’s another weight above that, but I’m not exactly sure which weight yet.”

“I will tell after the fight,” Costa said with a smile.

Marvin Vettori also accepted the challenge to fight at catchweight after knowing that Costa is overweight for the fight and won’t be able to make weight.

“The last thing I want is for the fight to be scratched, so I’ll fight him at any weight,” Vettori said. “With that being said, he needs to suffer a little bit making weight. All of us go through that. That shows. He’s a lot overweight.”

Now after lots of issues, the fight is finally happening as scheduled but the weight is changed from 185 pounds to 195 pounds. UFC Fight Night 196 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card streams on ESPN+.