Costa Questions Pereira Heavyweight Ranking

Paulo Costa says the UFC applies different rules to different fighters after questioning why Alex Pereira remains ranked fourth at heavyweight despite never winning in the division.

The Brazilian middleweight posted his criticism on X following Valentina Shevchenko's decision to vacate the women's flyweight title due to injury. Shevchenko's belt will now be contested by Natalia Silva and Cong Wang at UFC 332 on Oct. 3, a move that sparked debate about the promotion's inconsistent handling of title situations.

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Costa Calls Out UFC Over Pereira Rankings

Cris Cyborg recently pointed out that women's bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison has been inactive longer than Shevchenko, arguing that the inactivity standard should apply equally. Costa backed that claim while raising his own issue with how the rankings are handled. "Yeah it's really inconvenient; the UFC doesn't have a consistent standard of behavior or set of rules—they use double standards all the time," Costa wrote, per Sherdog.

Costa specifically questioned why Pereira still holds a spot in the heavyweight/" class="internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2">light heavyweight rankings after moving up to heavyweight, and why he sits at No. 4 in the heavyweight rankings despite losing his only fight in the division. Pereira vacated his light heavyweight title earlier this year and challenged Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight strap at UFC Freedom 250, coming up short in that bout.

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Costa has complained publicly about the UFC's matchmaking for months, saying the promotion has not offered him a suitable opponent for the final fight on his current contract.

Reported via:

• Sherdog — Paulo Costa slams UFC ‘double standards,’ questions Alex Pereira ranking