Alessandro Costa made a statement at UFC Fight Night 278, stopping Matt Schnell by first-round TKO to close out the prelims at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas.
Costa, listed at 16-5 MMA and 4-3 UFC, finished Schnell (17-11 MMA, 7-9 UFC) in their flyweight matchup, a bout that had previously fallen through when Costa withdrew from their originally scheduled September 2024 meeting.
"I'm very happy," Costa said after the victory. "This was a fight that I already wanted. Ever since the fight got canceled, I had plans to fight him again. Today was the day, and thank God everything went exactly the way we planned."
The matchup came together after Schnell fought Cody Durden on short notice and lost when Costa initially pulled out of their first booking. Schnell announced his retirement the day after his loss to Costa.
Looking ahead, Costa made his intentions clear about what comes next. "My next fight, I want someone in the top 15," he said. "That's my target now. I need to look at the rankings and see exactly where everything stands. Maybe then I can call out some names. Right now, I don't have a specific name in mind, but my focus is the top 15. I'm aiming for the top 15. That's the goal."
