Paulo Costa’s manager says he won’t move to 205lbs

Despite a recommendation from the California State Athletic Commission to move up in weight, Paulo Costa’s manager says he won’t be moving up to 205lbs.

Wallid Ismail, the colorful manager and interpreter for Costa and several other Brazilian MMA stars, told MMAFighting.com that Costa will stay at 185lbs.

“It’s a recommendation, not an obligation,” Ismail said. “That’s normal and has happened to other athletes as well. He made weight super nicely, with supervision from a doctor, and was already on weight a day before the weigh-ins.

“To give you an idea, he had breakfast before the weigh-ins because he was under the limit. It’s all good.”

Costa (13-0) recently picked up the biggest win of his MMA career when he took home a unanimous decision victory over Yoel Romero at UFC 241 to jump into the top-five at 185lbs. It was an incredible performance by the 28-year-old Brazilian, who improved his UFC record to 5-0 with the victory. Costa and Romero won “Fight of the Night” for their entertaining slugfest, one that has shot Costa into superstardom.

However, after the fight the CSAC released a report saying that Costa and several other fighters at UFC 241 were cutting far too much weight for the weight classes they competed at and they are recommended to move up a weight class. That’s not a direct order, but if Costa wants to fight in California again then he will likely have to prove that he can safely make the weight and that he isn’t depleting himself as much as the commission believes.

Because of the recommendation, it’s believed the UFC will promote Costa in other states such as Nevada or have him fight in his native Brazil, where the commissions haven’t said anything about his giant weight cut.

Do you think Paulo Costa should move up to light heavyweight or stay at middleweight?