13 things about UFC fighter Paulo Costa from Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais

Paulo Henrique Costa is a professional mixed martial artist and a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt from Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. He stands 6’0″ and competes in the middleweight division.

Currently, Costa signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is based in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. He holds a professional MMA record of 15 wins and 4 losses.

BIOGRAPHY

Born in Belo Horizonte to Carlos Roberto Costa and Maria Augusta Costa, Paulo played soccer in the streets of Contagem, Minas Gerias where he grew up. Carlos tried to pursue a career as a professional soccer player but failed so he had to work on many different jobs.

Carlos and Maria divorced when Paulo was young. Paulo is 5 years younger than his brother Carlos Costa, a former soccer player and MMA fighter.

The younger Carlos became one of Paulo’s MMA coaches. Their father wanted them to become soccer players.

Paulo’s fight name Borrachinha means Eraser. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. In 2000, he started his Muay Thai training.
2. After his father died of throat cancer in 2008, he quit training jiu-jitsu. To help his mother financially, he worked as a realtor and an information technology teacher teaching Microsoft programs including Excel, PowerPoint and Word.
3. In 2010, he resumed his jiu-jitsu training.
4. In 2012, he made his professional MMA debut and he started dating Tamara Alves.
5. From 2012 to 2020, he competed in MMA Total Combat, Upper Fight MMA Championship, BH Fight, Face to Face, Jungle Fight and the UFC.
6. In 2013, he defeated Ademilson Borges Duarte and Fabio Moreira both via technical knockout.
7. In 2014, he defeated Gerson da Silva Conceicao via technical knockout in an FTF event and competed in “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3” as a member of Wanderlei Silva‘s team.
8. In 2015, he defeated Wagner Silva and Bruno Assis both via technical knockout.
9. The UFC contacted him on January 5, 2017 and later on signed him with a four-fight contract.
10. On March 11, 2017, he made his UFC debut.
11. He received prohibited intravenous infusions on June 2, 2017 and on November 3, 2017, it resulted in a suspension from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), which started on August 10, 2018 and expired on February 10, 2019.
12. On May 31, 2022, he allegedly hit a nurse with his elbow during a dispute over a new coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination card in Belo Horizonte.
13. On April 21, 2025, he turned 34.

TIMELINE

From 2017 to 2025, Costa had 11 UFC fights. Here are the results:

2017

• On March 11, 2017, he defeated Garrett McLellan via technical knockout at “UFC Fight Night 106” in Fortaleza, Brazil.
• On June 3, 2017, he defeated Oluwale Bamgbose via TKO at “UFC 212” in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
• On November 4,2017, he defeated Johny Hendricks via TKO at “UFC 217” in New York City, New York, USA.

2018

• On July 7, 2018, he defeated Uriah Hall via TKO at “UFC 226” in Paradise, Nevada.

2019

• On August 17, 2019, he defeated Yoel Romero at “UFC 241” via unanimous decision in Anaheim, California, USA.

2020

• On September 27, 2020, he lost to then UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya via TKO at “UFC 253” in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

2021

• On October 23, 2021, he lost to Marvin Vettori via unanimous decision at “UFC Vegas 41” in Enterprise, Nevada.

2022

• On August 20, 2022, he defeated Luke Rockhold via unanimous decision at “UFC 278” in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

2024

• On February 17, 2024, he lost to Robert Whittaker via unanimous decision at “UFC 298” in Anaheim, California.
• On June 1, 2024, he lost to Sean Strickland via split decision at “UFC 302” in Newark, New Jersey, USA.

2025

• On July 19, 2025, he defeated Roman Kopylov via unanimous decision at “UFC 318” in New Orleans, Illinois, USA.