The Eraser is back! Monster Energy congratulates Paulo “The Eraser” Costa on defeating Luke Rockhold at UFC 278 in Salt Lake City, Utah. In Saturday night’s co-main event fight in the middleweight division, the 31-year-old from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, dominated the former middleweight champion for three rounds to earn a unanimous decision victory.
UFC 278: Usman vs. Edwards 2 was contested in front of a high-energy crowd of more than 17,000 spectators inside sold-out Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City. Prelims were broadcast live on ESPN+ and the main card aired on ESPN pay-per-view.
Monster Energy’s Costa (14-2) came to Utah looking to get back in the winner’s bracket after two consecutive losses against middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori. Costa’s opponent at UFC 278 was former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold (16-6) from Santa Cruz, California. At age 37, Rockhold wanted to make a comeback after last stepping in the Octagon in July 2019 when he lost to Jan Blachowicz at UFC 239.
When the bell rang at UFC 278, Monster Energy’s Costa proceeded to erase Rockhold’s comeback dreams. From the start, the black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu matched his opponent’s pressure and landed precise shots that chipped away at Rockhold’s stamina. In Round 1, Costa countered a takedown attempt with a heavy left and a flurry of heavy punches in the clinch. Costa also rocked his opponent with a left uppercut and scored a successful takedown of his own before the bell.
When the fight moved into Round 2, Rockhold already battled a bloody nose and visible exhaustion. Costa continued to land heavy strikes and body kicks from a distance, further wearing out his opponent’s gas tank. Round 3 saw Costa connect a body kick and two left hooks, while both fighters tried to land knockout punches to end the battle once and for all.
When all was said and done, the fight went the full distance with Costa doing the most damage and landing the most significant shots. After three hard-hitting rounds, Costa was covered in Rockhold’s blood as the judges named him the winner by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27). The epic 15-minute battle also earned the UFC’s Fight of the Night Bonus.
“This energy came through from this audience and it was amazing. The last time I fought in front of people was in 2019 with Romero. That fight was a war, and this was, as well,” said Monster Energy’s Costa upon winning the co-main event at UFC 278.
Saturday night’s victory at UFC 278 marks Costa’s first win since defeating Yoel Romero in 2019. Costa made his UFC debut in March 2017 and has earned several Performance of the Night and Fight of the Night bonuses throughout his career. Now back in the winner’s column, Costa is poised to face a top-five middleweight contender in his next bout. Stay tuned!
Paulo “The Eraser” Costa counts amongst Monster Energy’s elite UFC athletes along with Kamaru Usman, Jon “Bones” Jones, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal, Chris “The All American” Weidman, Rose Namajunas, Tony Ferguson, Marlon Vera, Joanna Jędrzejczyk, Maycee “The Future” Barber, Stipe “Stone Cold” Miocic, Michael Chandler, Justin Gaethje, Jessica-Rose Clark, Valentina Shevchenko, Sean “Sugar” O’Malley, Brandon Moreno, and Giga “Ninja” Chikadze.
For more on Monster Energy’s MMA athletes visit www.monsterenergy.com. Follow Monster Energy on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.
