Paulo Henrique Costa was born on April 21, 1991. He is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. He now fights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship's Middleweight category (UFC). He is ranked #6 in the UFC middleweight rankings as of August 1, 2022.
Paulo joined a jiu-jitsu gym with his brother as a youngster, only to abandon the sport when their father died of throat cancer when Paulo was 17. Costa returned to jiu-jitsu a few years later and began fighting under the supervision of his brother, who was already a purple belt at the time.
Costa worked in real estate and as an IT teacher teaching Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel to help his mother pay her obligations.
| Name | Paulo Henrique Costa |
| D.O.B | April 21, 1991 |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Weight | 84 kg |
| Occupation | Mixed Martial Artist |
| Professional Debut | 2012 |
| Girlfriend | Tamara Alves |
| Nicknames | Borrachinha (The Eraser) |
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Costa was born in 1991, the son of odd job man Carlos Roberto and Maria Augusta. He has an elder brother, Carlos Costa, who is a former mixed martial artist and one of Paulo’s teachers. Paulo grew up in Contagem, Brazil, practicing football and later taking up Muay Thai at the age of nine to learn discipline and escape street violence.
Costa made his professional MMA debut in February 2012 in his home nation of Brazil. His brother eventually persuaded their mother to financially support Paulo for a year in order for him to continue his professional martial arts career. Over the next five years, he went 8-0 with seven knockouts and one submission.
Costa was selected to compete in The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3. He defeated José Roberto through submission (guillotine choke) in the second round of the first elimination round. Wanderlei Silva picked Costa as his second middleweight combatant. Costa lost his next bout by split decision to Márcio Alexandre Jr. after three rounds.
Paulo Costa made his UFC debut against Garreth McLellan at UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Gastelum. He easily overcame McLellan in 90 seconds to claim the Performance of the Night prize. Paulo faced Oluwale Bamgbose in his debut UFC PPV fight at UFC 212. Costa used a clinical martial arts effort to finish Bamgbose in the second round.
He capitalized on this momentum by winning his next three fights over UFC veterans Johny Hendricks, Uriah Hall, and Yoel Romero to earn a championship chance against Israel Adesanya at UFC 253.
Adesanya overpowered Costa with his kickboxing arsenal and delivered Paulo his first MMA defeat by TKO in the second round (punches and elbows). After a year off, he fought Marvin Vettori at UFC Fight Night: Costa vs. Vettori. Paulo struggled to make Middleweight, forcing the fight to be moved to catchweight (190 lbs) and finally to Light Heavyweight. Costa put in a competitive effort but fell short against the tenacious Vettori and was defeated by a unanimous decision.
Costa was set to meet former UFC Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold at UFC 277 on July 30, 2022. The fight, however, was rescheduled for UFC 278 for unclear reasons. Costa was victorious by unanimous decision. He won the Battle of the Night award for this fight.
Costa was supposed to meet Robert Whittaker at UFC 284 on February 12, 2023. However, Costa questioned the promotion’s official claim that he had never signed a contract and that the bout would not go place.
| 16 matches | 14 wins | 2 losses |
| By knockout | 11 | 1 |
| By submission | 1 | 0 |
| By decision | 2 | 1 |
