Paulo Costa feels closer to title shot at 205 than 185 after UFC 327

MIAMI – Paulo Costa has spent his whole career fighting at middleweight. Yet, despite all the history in the division, the Brazilian fighter thinks he's much closer to a UFC belt fighting at light heavyweight. Costa (16-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC), a former UFC middleweight title challenger, moved up a weight class for a showdown against the undefeated contender Azamat Murzakanov in the co-main event of Saturday's UFC 327.

Costa entered the fight as an underdog, and few gave him a chance to win, seeing the matchup as a setup for the Russian. But all that came crashing down with Costa delivering a third-round TKO finish . "I feel good," Costa told reporters at the UFC 327 post-fight press conference.

"I feel great, but I don't put a lot of attention (on the finish) because my training didn't change. The fight before this against Kopylov, man, I was knocking him out. I connected with a straight right on the chin, and he fell down.

There were small details to change for me to get the knockout in the very first round. " Costa is now on a two-fight winning streak with one victory in both middleweight and light heavyweight. Despite just being 1-1 at 205 pounds in the UFC, Costa did make some big strides in the division, given Murzakanov's ranking.