SALT LAKE CITY – After plenty of bickering back-and-forth through the media, Paulo Costa and Luke Rockhold finally saw each in person at Thursday’s UFC 278 pre-fight press conference.
Both fighters come into the middleweight co-main event in desparate need of a victory, and the determination from Costa (13-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) and Rockhold (16-5 MMA, 6-4 UFC) came through when they engaged in a staredown for the first time after taking questions from the media.
Check out the video above to watch the Costa vs. Rockhold faceoff from the UFC 278 press conference.
Costa comes into the fight off back-to-back losses, which came on the heels of an undefeated run to start his career. He’ll attempt to right the ship against former UFC and Strikeforce champ Rockhold, who hasn’t competed since July 2019 and is chasing his first victory in nearly five years.
UFC 278 takes place at Vivant Arena. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ABC/ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 278.