Trying to figure out why I shouldn't bet the house on Yoel.
Criticized often for gassing, he has multiple round three KOs. He KOd Weidman and Luke; he went the distance twice with Whittaker.
He is very elusive and explosive. He can capitalize easily on his opponents open positions, meaning, attacking him is dangerous.
His athletic credentials far exceed Costa's. His experience far exceeds. Despite his age, he has shown little to think it's an issue.
The only issue is his weight cut, but he comes back from even the worst.
Has Costa fought anyone close to Yoel? His notable wins are a flakey Hall and a universally agreed washed up Hendricks. Literally all of his UFC wins are against fighters with a losing record in last 7 fights.
Meanwhile Luke was 6-1 coming in to his fight with Yoel, Chris had only 1 loss on his record at the time, Jacare was on an 8 fight winning streak.
The schedule of the two is not comparable. You add into all this Yoels two very close fights with the Champ, how can anyone argue Costa in on his level?
Often in these matchups of a rising star against an aging warrior, we get fantastic odds on the old man. Some go the way of Shogun Jones, but many others see the old man pull it off, easily and obviously.
The only legit concerns for Yoel I see are weight cut, mileage from the Whittaker fights, and if his age is finally becoming a factor, none of which are known.
But with what we do know, is this fight even competitive?