UFC flyweight Alessandro Costa knocked out Stewart Nicoll in April and went back to the cage in June to score another stoppage, a first-round finish over Matt Schnell. He’s wasting no time on the sidelines as he steps in once again on short notice to face off with Cody Durden at UFC 329.
The 125-pound contest will be featured on Saturday’s preliminary portion of the Max Holloway vs. Conor McGregor International Fight Week event in Las Vegas and that was only possible because “my last fight was quick and I came out of it without any injuries,” Costa told MMA Fighting. The Brazilian was only hit with eight significant strikes in his last bout and kept his weight low expecting a late call.
“At the point we’re at now, opportunities come when you least expect them,” Costa said, “So I told myself this was going to be a big year for me. This is my third fight, and my plan is to come away with a win and make it four fights this year. If I’m lucky, maybe even five. You never know. I didn’t expect to have three fights this quickly, but I’m feeling great. I’m healthy, injury-free, and my mindset is in a really good place too, and that’s very important.”
Costa has hoped to face Durden for a while now and finally gets the opportunity, replacing Ode Osbourne at UFC 329. Durden hasn’t been in his best as of late in the UFC, but recently scored a major upset against Jafel Filho, when he was a massive underdog with six losses in his past seven UFC bouts.
“Cody is an all-or-nothing kind of fighter,” Costa said. “He doesn’t respect anyone in there. He’s always coming to fight. Sometimes he wins, sometimes he loses. He comes from a wrestling background, and everyone knows his style. He throws strikes, then looks for scrambles and takedowns. But we come from jiu-jitsu. I still haven’t had the chance to show my jiu-jitsu in my fights, but it’s there. My jiu-jitsu is very dangerous, and so is my striking. Like I said before my fight with Stewart Nicoll, he’s a similar type of opponent, except Cody is a little more open and a little looser with his style, so I think it’s going to be a great fight.”
All four of Costa’s UFC wins came by way of knockout, pocketing bonuses in all but one of them, and he expects Durden to try and force him to grapple at the T-Mobile Arena.
“He’s not a guy who likes to stand and trade for long,” Costa said. “He throws punches already looking to get in on a takedown. But the plan is to avoid the takedowns. I’m not going into this fight afraid or worried about defending his wrestling. No, I’m going in there to impose my game. I’ve been training really well. And if he does manage to take me down, which is going to be very difficult, we’ll be more than ready.”
The 30-year-old flyweight doesn’t plan on slowing down after UFC 329. In fact, he’s already voicing his interest in being part of the yet-to-be-announced Noche UFC event in September. Costa, who lives in Mexico, was part of the last Noche show in 2025, when it took place in San Antonio. The card featured his friend and teammate Diego Lopes in the main event, but Costa came out with a defeat to Alden Coria.
“If everything goes according to plan, I’ll definitely ask to be on that card too,” Costa said. “I think my next win will be very important because it’ll give me the opportunity to call for someone in the rankings. It’ll be three straight wins, so I think I’ll have earned the right to say, ‘I want to fight this guy in the rankings.’”
Costa has two names in mind if all goes right at UFC 329, one being a rematch.
“There are definitely a couple of names I’d like to fight,” Costa said. “Tim Elliott is one of them. I think that would be a great matchup. I’d also like a rematch with Amir Albazi. I fought him in my UFC debut on just 10 days’ notice. A lot happened leading into that fight, and I lost, but I think I’m much better prepared now and a lot more experienced. I think either one of those would be a great fight.”
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