Melquizael Costa flew to Seattle to choke out Andre Fili in under five minutes in February.
He landed in Mexico City weeks later and won a decision against Christian Rodriguez.
This Saturday, Costa locks horns with Julian Erosa in Las Vegas as he looks to go 3-0 in a span of 85 days, just one day more than a personal record from his early MMA days in Brazil.
“The only thing that sucks is the weight cut,” Costa told MMA Fighting ahead of UFC Vegas 106. “If it wasn’t for that I could fight every weekend, like the Thai. I already thought about going up in weight [to do that]. I’m sure I’ll move up, it won’t take long, but I think I still have two of three years left at 145 to do some damage, win the belt, beat everybody up and then move up to 155.”
Costa was fighting as a lightweight under the LFA banner when he got a last-minute call to face Thiago Moises at UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro, a match he lost via second-round knockout. He beat Austin Lingo at featherweight six months later, and again fought at lightweight, losing to Steve Garcia. Since then, he’s won three straight at featherweight with a pair of finishes to his credit.
“The biggest issue for me is the weight cut,” Costa said of being so active. “I’ve managed to change my diet and my weight is way lighter than before but it’s still a lot to cut. The body always goes back up after the cut. As for the fight itself, thank God I wasn’t injured in any of these [recent] fights. I like being this active.”
Costa sees Erosa as being almost too big for featherweight and expects him to change weight classes eventually. And going for a trio of octagon appearances in less than three months doesn’t sound that bad because Erosa actually fought more recently, finishing Darren Elkins on April 12.
“I took this fight because Julian Erosa fought after me” Costa said. “If it was someone who had like three months to prepare, I don’t think I would have taken it. [I’d have said] ‘Let me get some rest.’ Nah, I’m lying, I think it’d still have taken it [laughs]. But it’s a good thing that Julian Erosa fought after me, you know?”
Erosa has won nine of 16 octagon appearances with six finishes, stopping his last three opponents inside of a round. Costa likes the matchup stylistically, and expects his opponent for shoot for takedowns.
“It’s going to be fun because he walks forward and likes to trade on the feet,” Costa said. “He has good guillotine just like me, so let’s see who locks it first. He’s a big guy but doesn’t use that reach. He likes to close the distance, you know? We’ll trade kicks and eventually he’ll try to take me down. Everybody does, man. In the end, everybody wants to take me to the ground [laughs]. If he goes to the ground he’s dead, man. That’s my area.”
