“If You Take Too Much of My Purse I’m Out”- Marvin Vettori Reveals How Paulo Costa Threatened to Forfeit the Fight

Marvin Vettori and Paulo Costa starred in the main event of UFC Fight Night 196. Both fighters battled till the end of the five rounds, at the end, Vettori took the spoils. The Italian fighter won the fight via a unanimous decision.

The fight was in the news for all the wrong reasons during the fight week. Three days before the bout, Costa declared that he won’t be able to make the 185-pound weight limit. They moved the fight after negotiations to a 195-pound catchweight, however, that also seemed too much of a task for Costa. It was finally scheduled as a light heavyweight contest.

Costa had to give up 20 percent of his fight purse to Vettori because of the weight cut issues. However, according to Vettori, the Brazilian fighter threatened to back out of the fight if they took too much off his purse.

‘The Italian Dream‘ said, “The thing is he was playing these kinds of games with the purse too, he was like, ‘if you take too much of my purse, I’m out of the fight,’ so he wanted to fight at a higher weight with me not taking that much of his purse, too. That’s how f**king crazy it was.

“He was like, ‘if you take too much of my purse, I’m out! If you don’t accept the fight at this weight, I’m out!’ So I pretty much accepted everything for this fight to make it happen,” added Vettori.

ALSO READ – Dana White Says Paulo Costa Will No Longer Fight in the UFC Middleweight Division

Paulo Costa believes he won the fight

According to ‘The Eraser’ he won the fight. He was unhappy with how the judges scored the fight and was also upset about the referee taking a point away for the eye poke.

In an interview with Megan Olivi, he said, “It was a very hard fight. But I don’t agree with the referee because he took one point on the first interpretation. I don’t understand that, I don’t agree with that. Marvin did a great job, I cannot say he not. But I believe I win that fight. The third, fourth and fifth round I won clearly.”

Costa gave props to Vettori for his performance and congratulated him for the win at UFC 196.

Despite the bad press before the fight, both fighters showed up on the fight night and put on a performance that left everyone impressed. What do you make of Costa’s antics? Let us know your thoughts!

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