Costa-Vettori moved up to light heavyweight for UFC main event
The UFC bumped up Saturday's main event between Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori to a 205-pound light heavyweight fight, UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell confirmed, according to ESPN's Marc Raimondi.
The UFC initially shifted the bout to a 195-pound catchweight fight amid weight concerns for the Brazilian, officials told MMA Fighting's Damon Martin.
The promotion decided to move the contest up another weight class after it was clear Costa wouldn't make weight at 195 pounds.
Vettori called Costa's actions "very disrespectful."
"We're up to 205," Vettori said. "And here I am, making sure I'm gonna give a fight to all the fans Saturday night, and I won't let this guy get away with it."
Costa said Wednesday he was at 211 pounds and wouldn't be able to cut down to the middleweight requirement in time for Friday morning's weigh-ins. He instead proposed a fight at 195 or 205 pounds. Vettori was willing to move the fight to a new weight class, saying he had no intention of canceling the bout.
Costa will forfeit 20% of his purse to Vettori as a penalty.
The 30-year-old Costa last appeared in the Octagon in September 2020, losing to UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya by TKO. Vettori also lost to Adesanya in his last bout, dropping a decision at UFC 263 in June.
Saturday's Fight Night event will take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.