Melquizael Costa, the No. 12-ranked featherweight in the official UFC rankings, has announced a big career change.
After losing to Arnold Allen in the main event of UFC Vegas 117 last month, Costa said that he is moving up in weight.
Melquizael Costa Announces Big Career Change
After spending most of his UFC career in the featherweight division, competing at 145 lbs, Costa said that he is moving up to the lightweight division at 155 lbs. The Brazilian announced the news in a social media post on Monday.
“It was a good run in this category, but my body can’t handle cutting 22 kilos for each fight anymore. Letâs go Lightweight,” Costa wrote on his X.
According to Costa, he was cutting nearly 50 lbs of weight to make featherweight. His body simply cannot handle the giant weight cut anymore, so he is making the move up to lightweight.
It’s certainly an interesting career change given the 29-year-old Costa is ranked at No. 12 in the UFC featherweight division. But clearly, he is putting his health above all else by making this move up in weight, so you have to give him credit for making such a drastic career change.
Now that he’s moving up to lightweight, the question that all fans want to know is who Costa will fight in his next bout at 155 lbs?
Who Will Melquizael Costa Fight at 155 lbs?
Taking a look at the lightweight rankings, most of the fighters in the top-15 rankings are booked already, but one who could potentially be an opponent is No. 15-ranked Beneil Dariush. He is coming off a bad KO loss to Quillan Salkilld in his last fight, but he could look to defend his ranking against someone like Costa if the UFC decides the Brazilian is worthy of a ranked opponent in the lightweight division right off the rip.
Of course, the UFC matchmakers may make Costa have to work his way through the lightweight division by taking out unranked fighters before he gets a crack at someone in the top 15.
If that’s the case, then looking at the lightweight division, some fighters who could potentially make sense as opponents for Costa include Terrance McKinney, Jalin Turner, Rafa Garcia, Joaquim Silva, Ignacio Bahamondes, and Chris Duncan. These are all fighters who have been in the UFC for a while, who have a similar amount of experience to Costa, so all of them would make for good opponents, and all of them would be exciting matchups for the fans.
Overall, this move by Costa up in weight is likely the smart one for his career, though it’s risky since he will lose his top-15 ranking at featherweight by changing weight classes. Ultimately, though, if his body can be healthier at his new weight class, then Costa is going to be happy with this move. We’ll see who the UFC gives him in his first bout at lightweight, but look for them to give Costa a striker after he was outwrestled by Allen in his last bout.
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