Whittaker to fight Costa at UFC 284 in Australia
A middleweight bout between Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa has been booked for UFC 284 in Australia on Feb. 11, the UFC announced Thursday.
The three-round fight will serve as the co-main event, according to Danny Segura of MMA Junkie.
Costa, who has only one fight left on his current UFC contract, recently said he wanted to close out his deal by facing Whittaker. They were scheduled to face off last year, but Costa pulled out of the bout due to an illness.
Whittaker, the No. 1-ranked middleweight, is coming off a dominant victory over Marvin Vettori in September. The 31-year-old former champion is 4-1 in his last five fights, with his only defeat coming against Israel Adesanya at UFC 271 in February.
Costa, 31, beat Luke Rockhold at UFC 278 in August, snapping a two-fight losing streak. He's currently ranked sixth in the division.