Why would anyone choose to fight for a living? The question has become quite common among those who are not big into combat sports and several reasons have been given, many believe that it is a profession reserved for people struggling with anger issues. Although this sentiment is not necessarily true, it is a fact that people pursue a career in this field due to various different incentives. For Paulo Costa, his motivation is simple: he is fascinated by fighting.
If you’ve been following the UFC, then chances are you know a handful of things about this mixed martial artist. Although relatively new to the UFC, he jumped onto the promotion’s radar in March 2017 after defeating more experienced South African fighter Garreth Mclellan. Despite being a newcomer, Costa won over Mclellan, a UFC member since 2015, who defeated him in the first round via TKO. Do you want to know more about this guy? To follow…
Who is Paulo Costa?
Certainly, this mixed martial artist is known Paulo Borrachinha and “The Eraser” was baptized Paulo Henrique Costa after his birth on April 21, 1991. He was born in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Even with the fame that came to Paulo for his fighting status, it’s hard to get details about his upbringing and family. No one can tell what his childhood was like and what was going on with his parents and siblings. One thing though, it is said that he got his nickname Borrachinha from his older brother called the rubber man. Borrachinha means “little rubber”.
From what we’ve come up with, Paulo Costa was a real estate agent before he started fighting. As mentioned earlier, he started down this path because he was fascinated by reality. That’s 2012. Granted, the Brazilian entertainer currently competes under the UFC’s middleweight division, but he didn’t make his MMA debut with the promotion. He started fighting in his home country.
He wasted no time in proving he was a fine fighter. Beyond suffering no defeats, he became Mineiro Jiu-Jitsu Champion, MMA Face to Face Event Champion, and Jungle Fight Event Champion. So it was no surprise if he was chosen to fight in The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3. Paulo’s performance in the UFC-produced telefrequency series was remarkable, which paved the way for his debut in 2017, at UFC.
After making a grand entrance with defeating McLellan, The Eraser continued their fight against Oluwale Bamgbose. He triumphed over the Nigerian American via TKO in the second round. Paulo and UFC would end up having a bit of a financial problem with a new contract. This was resolved after battling and defeating Johny Hendricks. So far, the Brazilian fighter remains undefeated as he has won all of his 12 fights; 11 via knockout and one via submission.
His height, weight and measurements
Even though many have come to consider skill, experience and intelligence to be the most important factors that determine the winner of a fight between two competing fighters, no combat sports expert would deny certain disadvantages due to physical characteristics of a fighter; in particular, height and weight.
The taller MMA fighters often have an advantage when facing smaller fighters with the same skill set as they do. Weight classes in combat sports are meant to manage this and balance things out as much as possible.
Unfortunately, nothing was done to deal with the height advantage. For example, while the shorter fighter would have to hit upwards and struggle to land their strikes to reach their opponent, the taller fighter would enjoy a marked advantage since they would be able to fire their shots at a safe distance, achieving its objectives and easily avoiding those directed at it.
Paulo Costa has little to fear in terms of height as he is an inch taller than 6ft (6′ 1″). The height is perfect for its weight of 84 kg (185 lb). Its reach is 72 inches and its leg is 39 inches.