Daniel Cormier had high praise for Paulo Costa after his emphatic win over Azamat Murzakanov in the co-main event of UFC 327 at Kaseya Center in Miami this past Saturday.
Costa handed Murzakanov the first loss of his professional career, closing the show with a head-kick finish in Round 3. The victory extended Costa’s current winning streak to two and came in a light heavyweight bout where he later stated he feels closer to a title shot than at middleweight.
Cormier, calling the action, did not hold back in his assessment of Costa’s showing. “That was the best performance I think I've seen from Paulo Costa in a really, really long time,” Cormier said.
Breaking down the finish, Cormier highlighted Costa’s disciplined attack. “Costa did a great job of using his weapons to set up a chance to finish the fight. When he was walking to the octagon, we said use body kicks from range to try to control Azamat. He did that. He blasted body kick after body kick after body kick early, and low kick after low kick early in the fight to set Azamat up, and then ends up hitting him with the high kicks.”
Cormier also emphasized the intensity of Costa’s closing stretch. “The third round, Paulo Costa came out as if he was shot out of a cannon. He started throwing high kicks after high kicks after high kicks. And ultimately he hit Azamat with so many high kicks that eventually he went down.”
Costa is a former UFC title challenger, while Murzakanov entered UFC 327 with a 16-0 professional record.
