Joe Rogan was astonished when Paulo Costa utterly dismantled former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks at UFC 217.
Later this month, fan favorite Paulo Costa finally returns to the Octagon when he takes on Roman Kopylov at UFC 317 on International Fight Week.
The last time ‘The Eraser’ stepped foot in the UFC Octagon was last June when he took on former middleweight king Sean Strickland at UFC 302, in what was a highly criticized fight.
Costa is looking to snap his two-fight losing skid with a win on the blockbuster card, and is hoping to return to the form that had Joe Rogan singing his praises.
Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty ImagesPaulo Costa utterly brutalized Johny Hendricks in his retirement fightWhen ‘The Eraser’ first burst onto the scene in the promotion in 2017, he was immediately highlighted as a potential future star in the sport because of his hilarious personality and incredible fight style.
Costa then scored two emphatic knockouts in his first two outings, earning himself a fight against the former UFC welterweight champion, Johny Hendricks.
This was by far the biggest test of the Brazilian’s career at that point and a win over ‘Big Rig’ would showcase that he had a genuine chance at becoming a UFC champion.
And early on in the fight, Costa displayed his well-rounded skillset, making it rough for Hendricks from the get-go.
After landing several heavy right hands and right body kicks on the rig of Hendricks, Costa clearly grew in confidence and began to taunt Hendricks whenever he landed a strike back.
In round two, the Brazilian landed a huge right head kick on the temple of Hendricks, followed by a big left hook that momentarily dropped the former champion.
Somehow, Hendricks made it to the end of the fight without being knocked out but he decided quickly after that it would be his final fight in the sport, announcing his retirement.
Joe Rogan was in awe of Costa’s performance against HendricksUFC commentator Joe Rogan was fortunate enough to watch the majority of Hendricks’ career in the UFC on the way to becoming the champion.
Not long after the event, Rogan reacted to Costa’s performance against ‘Big Rig’ claiming that ‘the fight was an assault’.
“He fought the f—— Eraser, dude, that guy is scary, even post-USADA scary,” Rogan reacted.
“Dude, he’s so jacked. May be the best looking dude on the planet, he’s right up there. When he was standing next to Johnny Hendricks at the weigh-ins I was like, ‘No, Johny, you are not a middleweight.’
“The fight was basically an assault, it was an assault. You would never believe that Johny Hendricks was a former champion if you saw the way the Eraser beat the s— out of him, I mean, he just beat the s— out of him.
“He was just getting f—— destroyed and just walked down and smashed him… It was no contest, he blew him out of the water,” Rogan continued.
It is fair to say that because of Costa’s exciting fight style and fun personality, he could potentially find himself back in middleweight title contention with a few big wins, starting at UFC 317.
