Paulo Costa targets Derek Brunson showdown for UFC return after light heavyweight shortcomings

UFC middleweight Paulo Costa has confirmed that he wants to return to active competition by calling out Derek Brunson.

Over the course of the last few years we’ve seen Paulo Costa go from unbeaten machine to one of the most hated fighters in mixed martial arts. It’s been a somewhat strange transition that began in the lead-up to his showdown with Israel Adesanya, which many saw as a huge opportunity for the Brazilian to become the new 185-pound king.

Instead, though, he was soundly beaten by ‘The Last Stylebender’ and proceeded to admit he drank a bottle of wine the night before the fight.

This led to widespread confusion as to why he’d do such a thing just hours before the biggest bout of his career. In contrast, it also had some pundits and fans wondering whether or not he was making the whole thing up.

Whatever the case may be he was vilified, and that ‘heel turn’ was cemented in his return against Marvin Vettori.

The contest with the Italian was supposed to go down at middleweight but at the start of fight week, Costa made it clear to everyone that he wouldn’t be able to make the weight. So, at his request, the UFC changed it to a light heavyweight meeting.

Costa went on to put on a great show with Vettori but ultimately came up on the losing end, leaving some serious questions regarding his fighting future.

Now, five months on from the Vegas controversy, Costa has called his shot by announcing his intention to take on Derek Brunson.

“Now it’s time to Derek Brunson runway or accept. Sean gave up. Brunson?”

Costa is a lot of things but first and foremost, he’s one hell of a fighter who knows how to create chaos in that cage.

The famous ‘Blonde’ Derek Brunson run saw him string together five straight wins that took him