Paulo Costa vs. Luke Rockhold will no longer take place at UFC 277.
Originally scheduled for the July 30 pay-per-view at T-Mobile Arena, Costa now faces Rockhold on Aug. 20 at an event which doesn’t yet have an announced venue or location.
Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the change, but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. The Schmo was first to report the news.
Earlier this week, Rockhold (16-5 MMA, 6-4 UFC) hinted that his fight with Costa could be moving dates. The former UFC middleweight champion hasn’t competed since his knockout loss to Jan Blachowicz in July 2019.
The reason for the fight getting rescheduled is unknown. However, Costa (13-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) did struggle to hit the middleweight mark in his most recent outing against Marvin Vettori in the UFC Fight Night 196 headliner in October 2021. He ultimately requested the fight to take place at light heavyweight. The former title challenger lost the back-and-forth battle by unanimous decision.
