Costa (14-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) will look to snap a two-fight skid when he takes on rising middleweight Roman Kopylov (14-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) in Saturday's co-main event ( ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. The former title challenger has lost four of his past five, and Bisping questions his mindset.

In the co-main event of UFC 318, we are going to see a fun middleweight matchup between two ranked contenders. […]

UFC commentator Michael Bisping believes that Paulo Costa is his own worst enemy heading into UFC 318 tonight.

M ax Holloway vs. Dustin Poirier 3 is a tough act to live up to. Two of UFC's most endearing and enduring stars will collide, after which Poirier will retire in his home state of Louisiana at UFC 318. The MMA world's attention will appropriately be on the main event, but it's not the only significant fight.

NEW ORLEANS – Paulo Costa has seen better days, but Roman Kopylov still considers him to be at elite level.

Costa (14-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) and Chimaev (14-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) were booked to fight at UFC 294 in October 2023, but Costa wound up withdrawing due to injury. Their rivalry dates back to a heated run-in at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas prior to Chimaev's UFC 279 win over Kevin Holland in September 2022.

Read the recent MMA news and rumors about Paulo Costa for fantasy fighting. Former middleweight title challenger Paulo Costa is scheduled to take on

UFC 318 continues with a fight between Paulo Costa and Roman Kopylov. Check out our UFC odds series for our Costa-Kopylov prediction.

The entire UFC 318 main card, along with Max Holloway vs. Dustin Poirier, had faceoffs at the press conference.