NEW ORLEANS – Paulo Costa has seen better days, but Roman Kopylov still considers him to be at elite level.

Paulo Costa ignited a feud with Khamzat Chimaev at the UFC 318 media day, accusing him of sending disrespectful messages to his girlfriend via Instagram. Costa, preparing to face Roman Kopylov, expressed his anger and desire to settle the score in the octagon.

Just like UFC 318 headliner Dustin Poirier, Costa has not fought since UFC 302 last June. As an aside, Kevin Holland was also on that UFC 302 card and faces Daniel Rodriguez on the UFC 318 main card in what will be Holland’s fifth appearance since UFC 302.

Dustin Poirier competes for the final time at UFC 318, and while the fan favorite is hanging up his gloves there’s a few up-and-comers fighting on the prelims.

Israel Adesanya believes Paulo Costa’s mindset is the deciding factor in how he performs at UFC 318. Costa is set to make his first appearance of 2025 when he takes part in the co-main event of UFC 318 in New Orleans on Saturday.

The Octagon is in New Orleans for local and global favorite Dustin Poirier’s farewell. After 18 years as an active MMA fighter, the gloves will be hung up after Poirier fights Max Holloway at UFC 318 for the symbolic BMF title.

Costa (14-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) and Chimaev (14-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) were booked to fight at UFC 294 in October 2023, but Costa wound up withdrawing due to injury. Their rivalry dates back to a heated run-in at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas prior to Chimaev's UFC 279 win over Kevin Holland in September 2022.

UFC 318 continues with a fight between Paulo Costa and Roman Kopylov. Check out our UFC odds series for our Costa-Kopylov prediction.

During a video recently uploaded to his YouTube channel, Israel Adesanya broke down the upcoming UFC 318 fight. ‘The Last Stylebender’ will have a vested interest in the co-main event, which comes in his division and features the man he defeated to record his second successful title defense in 2020.

Paulo Costa hasn’t forgotten his would-be rivalry with Khamzat Chimaev. With the two in the same weight class, the path was clear for a grudge match and introduction to the top-tier of Middleweight talent.

The UFC heads to New Orleans, LA this weekend for UFC 318, and MMA KO’s Drew Beaupré is here to provide predictions for all 9 of the card’s prelim fights.

On the second episode of UFC 318 "Embedded," Paulo Costa finishes his camp feeling the utmost confident before his fight.