UFC president Dana White said Saturday that Paulo Costa has to compete in the light heavyweight division moving forward after his weight debacle earlier this week.
Costa dropped a unanimous decision to Marvin Vettori in the UFC Fight Night main event in Las Vegas. The bout was initially scheduled for middleweight - at which both fighters usually compete - but was moved up 20 pounds heavier on Thursday after Costa said he'd be unable to make weight.
"We absolutely tell you where to fight when this happens. He's going to have to fight at 205 (pounds)," White said at the postfight press conference.
Costa said at the presser that he was heavier than usual at the start of fight week because he missed some training time after suffering a biceps injury in camp.
His manager, Wallid Ismail, plans to talk to the UFC about keeping Costa at 185 pounds, he told ESPN's Brett Okamoto. Ismail said he believes Costa can still make weight in that division.
White said Costa weighed 220 pounds and Vettori 208 pounds on fight night. They tipped the scale at 204.5 and 204 pounds, respectively, at the Friday weigh-ins.
The UFC boss is confident the Brazilian also won't be able to make the middleweight limit in the future.
"He can't make '85. It just goes to show you that he cannot make 185 pounds," White said. "I think he landed at 218 when he got here."
Costa has now lost two fights in a row, while Vettori rebounded from a June defeat to middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and is 6-1 in his past seven outings.
