UFC releases statement on Anthony Johnson, Anthony Rumble Johnson

Anthony Johnson blasts Paulo Costa for huge weight miss ahead of UFC Vegas 41

Bellator light heavyweight contender Anthony Johnson blasted UFC middleweight Paulo Costa for his huge weight miss ahead of UFC Vegas 41.

Costa was set to fight Marvin Vettori in a middleweight matchup between top contenders in the headliner of Saturday’s UFC Vegas 41 card. However, the fight was instead moved up to the light heavyweight division after Costa showed up to fight week heavy. Vettori will now receive 20% of Costa’s purse and the fight will take place at 205lbs. But if you ask Johnson, someone who struggled with weight misses his entire UFC career, Costa didn’t even try to actually make 185lbs.

Taking to his social media following the news that Costa vs. Vettori will now take place at 205lbs, Johnson ripped Costa for not being able to make weight, calling him “lazy” for missing weight.

“I missed weight 3 times while fighting for UFC. Even if I knew it would be a struggle I’d still try and make the weight and not be a b*tch and try to do catch(weight) outta the blue cuz I was lazy. Costa wants the fame and glory without putting in the work. Bash me all you want but even I didn’t make up excuses or cop out. If he fights 205 just stay there. That way there’s no more excuses and nobody will see how lazy he is. Trust me going up in weight is much better and makes life easier,” Johnson said (h/t MMAjunkie.com).

Johnson and Costa actually got into it on social media about a year ago, so clearly there is a bit of a feud there between the guy fighters. For Johnson, someone who has historically struggled with his weight, it bothers him seeing a fighter like Costa ask for a catchweight and not drain himself when during his own UFC career, Johnson went through some truly brutal and horrible weight cuts.

Do you agree with the criticism that Anthony Johnson levied towards Paulo Costa?

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Adam Martin
MMA journalist, podcast host, and handicapper for MyMMANews.com, MMAoddsbreaker.com, and Bookies.com. MMAOB Daily Podcast host. Join me LIVE @ 5 pm EST every Monday for my live free podcast. Over 10 years of experience writing about MMA. I love this sport.