MMA analyst Kenny Florian has explained why he believes there’s a case for Paulo Costa to leapfrog Magomed Ankalaev and become the number one contender at light heavyweight.
Over the course of the last few years, Paulo Costa has been making waves in the mixed martial arts world – and a lot of that stems from his social media activity. Alongside that, though, he has also been able to pick up a couple of nice wins, and with his latest being a finish at 205 pounds, he has certainly vaulted himself into title contention in what is a pretty shallow division right now.
Ankalaev’s most recent win means that he’s probably going to be the one who gets the nod, but in equal measure, UFC clearly isn’t his biggest fan, and Paulo Costa has the kind of ‘star power’ that they want to push, especially with light heavyweight needing more big names at the top.
In a recent podcast, Kenny Florian weighed in on the Paulo Costa debate.
Kenny Florian on Magomed Ankalaev/Paulo Costa debate
“I would go with Paulo Costa,” Florian said on his “Anik & Florian” podcast. “This is exactly what the division needs. They need a name, they need excitement. I don’t care about this division, I really don’t. I want to, but I don’t. And I need someone like a Paulo Costa who looks the part, who plays the part, who is hilarious on social media. But when he fights, he goes out there and looks for the knockout, and everything he throws looks spectacular.
“So, he’s a tremendous athlete, he knows how to excite the crowd, and when he’s on his game, he is going to be tough to beat. I think he can steal that spot. Yes, I think Ankalaev probably deserves it based on what he has done, but we know that this is a business and the UFC is looking for guys that are going to go out there and put on a show, and Costa is that guy.” Quotes via MMA Junkie
While you could certainly make the argument that Ankalaev deserves it on merit, many people have bought stock in Costa over the course of the last few months – and it could be worth taking the risk and pulling the trigger.
