Paulo Costa

Sean Strickland got his hand raised at UFC 302 with a split decision win over Paulo Costa in the co-main event from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Judge Dave Tirelli surprised a lot of spectators with a 49-46 score for Costa:

Costa had early success with leg kicks. He was able to land a few early ones to Strickland's calf that appeared to impact his opponent's movement. That didn't deter Strickland from keeping up his signature pressure.

That pressure really started to get to Costa in the second round. Costa didn't have answers and spent much of the round fighting off his back foot and backing away to the cage.

Strickland punctuated a solid five minutes of work with a punch that put his opponent on the mat.

The former champion continued to pepper Costa with his jab. While The Eraser was able to have some success with counters to the body he struggled to connect with meaningful head strikes:

Others were impressed by Strickland's effective pressure and unorthodox defense.

Strickland's offense did hit another gear with a final barrage of kicks and punches aimed at ending the fight in the final seconds of the fifth round. But overall, it was the kind of performance that Strickland has become known for.

The win marks Strickland's first fight since he lost his belt to Dricus Du Plessis by split decision at UFC 292.

The 33-year-old has put together one of the more interesting career arcs in the UFC right now. Initial attempts to climb the welterweight ladder were thwarted by Santiago Ponzinibbio and Kamaru Usman before he eventually made the move up to 185 pounds.

That move has led him to pulling off a shocking upset of Israel Adesanya and adding a UFC championship to his resume.

It's an achievement he's looking forward to repeating after narrowly losing to Du Plessis in his last Octagon appearance.

"I mean, obviously, I want the title fight, but, at the end of the day, I'm a fighter. I'm a prize fighter. So, you give me money, I fight, but that's what I want. That needs to happen," he said, per Zac Pacleb of UFC.com.

There's been some buzz surrounding a potential matchup between Du Plessis and Adesanya but nothing has been officially scheduled as of yet.

That likely sets up a situation where Strickland is going to have to wait his turn if he wants another shot at the strap. Given his tendency to keep a busy schedule, it's likely we see him in a title eliminator before that happens.

UFC 294 has seen another change at the top of the card, as Khamzat Chimaev will have a new opponent in the co-main event after Paulo Costa wasn't cleared following elbow surgery.

UFC president Dana White announced Wednesday that former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman will be moving up to middleweight to fight Chimaev on short notice.

The change to the UFC 294 co-main event comes a day after it was announced that UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski has been inserted into the main event to challenge lightweight champion Islam Makhachev on Oct. 21 in Abu Dhabi after Charles Oliveira was forced to withdraw due to a cut sustained in sparring.

Costa underwent a procedure on his elbow just a few weeks ago, and he revealed on Wednesday that he has a bacterial infection that caused doctors to hold him out of the fight:

Usman (20-3) is largely considered to be among the greatest welterweight fighters in UFC history. He started his career with 15 straight wins, including five straight title defenses, before dropping back-to-back fights against current welterweight champion Leon Edwards.

Usman and Chimaev had been circling each other for quite some time. However, the former champ initially insisted that a fight between the two of them take place at 170 pounds.

Chimaev has a well-documented history of weight-cutting issues, so he unsurprisingly chose to move up to middleweight. Now, he gets his wish of facing Usman in a 185-pound bout. This will be his first fight in over a year after he improved to 12-0 with a submission win over Kevin Holland in a 180-pound catchweight fight at UFC 279 in September 2022.

Both Usman and Chimaev are known for their wrestling prowess, so it will be interesting to see which one of them will be able to impose his will. Chimaev will likely have a size advantage on fight night, so Usman could be in for a tough challenge.

UFC middleweight Paulo Costa revealed he underwent elbow surgery a little over a month out from his fight with Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294 on Oct. 21.

Costa posted Monday on social media that he had procedure three weeks ago and showed the scarring on his elbow.

The disclosure certainly raises some questions given the close proximity to this month's event. The 32-year-old is nonetheless confident about his odds against Chimaev despite the fact he seemingly won't be at 100 percent.

"I will not pull out of this fight," he said to ESPN's Brett Okamoto. "I can beat him 99 out of 100 times. Only if the doctor doesn't allow me. I want that fight."

Okamoto reported the surgery was required to address an infection in Costa's elbow.

Former MMA fighter Alan Jouban offered his two cents on the situation:

Costa hasn't fought in more than a year. In his last appearance, he won a unanimous decision over Luke Rockhold at UFC 278 in August 2022. Now, fans might be wondering whether his layoff is extended because his health just became a major storyline leading up to UFC 294.