Paulo Costa volunteers as heavyweight replacement for Lewis at UFC White House
Paulo Costa has offered to replace Derrick Lewis at UFC White House and settle his beef with Josh Hokit as a heavyweight.
Costa knocked out previously unbeaten Azamat Murzakanov at light heavyweight during UFC 327 earlier this month, but now wants to jump two weight classes to face Hokit on June 14. The bout stems from a public spat over fight bonuses after Hokit collected two awards — Fight and Performance of the Night — while Costa went home empty-handed despite stopping a top contender. “I just let ufc knows if Derek Lewis gets out his fight for some reason I will step in at White House as heavyweight,” Costa posted on X, per MMA Mania. “No bullshit, ain’t lying.”
Costa confident he will outweigh Hokit at heavyweight
The former middleweight title challenger believes he can enter the cage heavier than Hokit without cutting weight. According to Sherdog, Costa wrote that fans want to see “the biggest middleweight in history” compete at heavyweight, adding he would not be surprised if he weighed more than Hokit on fight night. Costa also suggested Lewis be rebooked against another opponent if President Donald Trump still wants “The Black Beast” on the card.
Hokit responded by calling for the BMF title to be put on the line, writing that 155-pounders are too small for the designation and the belt belongs at heavyweight. Costa added in a separate post that fighting Hokit would let him earn back the $100,000 bonus he felt he deserved at UFC 327. Lewis remains scheduled to fight Hokit at the White House, but Costa now stands as a backup option if the matchup falls through.
Photo: {From YouTube|1=vAd1ikaxclM=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAd1ikaxclM / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Original reporting:
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