Paulo Henrique Costa (born 21 April 1991) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist.
He currently competes in the Middleweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
As of 20 February 2024, he is #7 in the UFC middleweight rankings.
Costa, the son of odd-jobber Carlos Roberto and Maria Augusta, was born in 1991.
He has an older brother, Carlos Costa, who is a former mixed martial artist and one of Paulo's coaches.
Paulo grew up in Contagem playing football and eventually picking up Muay Thai at the age of nine in order to learn discipline and avoid street fights he was constantly getting into.
As a teenager, Paulo joined a jiu-jitsu gym with his brother only to quit the sport after their father died of throat cancer when Paulo was 17.
A couple of years later, Costa returned to jiu-jitsu and started competing under the tutelage of his brother who was already a purple belt at the time.
In order to help his mother with bills, Costa worked in real estate and as an IT teacher teaching Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel.
2012
Costa made his professional MMA debut in his native country of Brazil in February 2012.
Eventually, his brother convinced their mother to support Paulo monetarily for a year in order to pursue his professional martial arts career.
Over the next five years, he amassed a record of 8–0 with 7 knockouts and 1 submission.
Costa was chosen to be a fighter on The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3.
In the opening elimination round, he defeated José Roberto via submission (guillotine choke) in the second round.
Costa was the second middleweight fighter chosen by coach Wanderlei Silva.
His next fight was against Márcio Alexandre Jr., and Costa lost via split decision after three rounds.
2017
Costa made his promotional debut on 11 March 2017, at UFC Fight Night 106 against Garreth McLellan.
He won the fight via TKO in the first round, earning his first Performance of the Night award.
Costa faced Oluwale Bamgbose on 3 June 2017, at UFC 212.
He won the fight via TKO in the second round.
After the fight with Bamgbose, UFC offered a new contract but the parties did not come to an agreement with the financial terms.
The UFC then proposed a fight with former welterweight champion Johny Hendricks, with a promise to renegotiate after the bout.
Costa faced Hendricks on 4 November 2017, at UFC 217.
He won the fight via TKO in the second round.
After the bout Costa signed a new, multi-fight contract.
It was revealed that Costa had been suspended for six months by USADA and Comissão Atlética Brasileira de MMA (CABMMA) for receiving prohibited intravenous infusions (IV) more than 100 mL in 12 hours after the weigh-ins in June 2017 at UFC 212 against Oluwale Bamgbose and November 2017 at UFC 217 against Johny Hendricks.
Costa was fined a third of his purse of the fights, which were reverted to his opponents.
2018
Costa was expected to face Uriah Hall on 21 April 2018, at UFC Fight Night 128.
However, Costa pulled out of the fight in mid-March with an arm injury.
In turn, promotion officials elected to pull Hall from that event entirely and reschedule the pairing for 7 July 2018, at UFC 226.
Costa won the fight via technical knockout in round two.
The win earned him his second Performance of the Night award.
Costa was scheduled to face Yoel Romero on 3 November 2018, at UFC 230.
However, Romero indicated in mid-August that, while he had been cleared to fight, his medics had recommended that he wait another four to five months to allow facial injuries incurred during his most recent fight to fully heal.
The suspension was retroactive to 10 August 2018, and Costa was eligible to fight again in February 2019.
2019
The bout was rescheduled again, and was expected to take place on 27 April 2019, at UFC on ESPN+ 8.
Costa was removed from the card for an undisclosed reason.
He was replaced by Ronaldo Souza.
Romero then pulled out of the fight due to pneumonia, and Costa was scheduled to face Souza, but a United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) investigation prevented Costa from participating, so neither Romero nor Costa competed in the event.
2020
On 23 March 2020, Lucas Penchel MSc, who provided the infusions in question, accepted a two-year ban from USADA, starting on 13 March 2020.
