Paulo Costa wants Mike Perry fight

Paulo Costa is trying to make his next fight loud before the UFC even books it.

After his win over Azamat Murzakanov at UFC 327, Costa named three possible options for his next move. The wildest one was asking the UFC to release him from the final fight on his contract so he can face Mike Perry on Netflix.

Costa later made the message even clearer. He said Perry is now his favorite option. For a fighter who rarely chooses the quiet road, that sounds very normal. Costa has a win behind him, attention around him, and enough name value to push for something bigger than a standard ranked fight.

The idea is simple. Perry just beat Nate Diaz on a major Netflix MMA card, and his name is hot again. Costa sees that. He knows Perry is not just another former UFC fighter. Perry brings violence, noise, and an audience that likes messy fights with clear personalities.

Why Perry makes sense for Costa

A fight with Perry would not be a normal UFC rankings move. It would be a big crossover-style fight, built around two men who do not need much help selling a matchup.

Costa is bigger, stronger, and still active inside the UFC. Perry has become one of the main names outside the promotion for fan-friendly fights. He is not hard to understand. He walks forward, throws heavy, talks straight, and gives people the kind of fight they expect from him.

That is why Costa mentioning him makes sense. It is not the safest move. It is not the most traditional move. But it is the kind of move that gets people talking right away.

• Paulo Costa says he has three options for his next fight.
• He mentioned a Sean Strickland rematch for the middleweight title.
• He also named Josh Hokit as a possible heavyweight fight.
• His loudest idea is asking UFC for a release to fight Mike Perry on Netflix.

The UFC contract is the hard part

The biggest problem is not Perry. The biggest problem is Costa’s UFC deal.

Costa says he still has one fight left on his contract. If that is true, the UFC has little reason to let him walk into a Netflix fight right now. He is coming off a win, he still has a ranking position, and he still knows how to pull attention without doing much.

That makes him useful for the UFC. Costa can be placed in the middleweight title picture, used in a big grudge fight, or moved into a strange heavyweight experiment if the promotion wants to make noise. Even when his ideas sound unrealistic, they keep his name active.

The Sean Strickland rematch is also complicated. Costa lost to Strickland at UFC 302, so a direct title path does not look simple. But Costa mentioning Strickland still works as a message. He wants the biggest names available, not a quiet rebuild.

Costa is pushing for a bigger fight

The real point is clear. Costa does not want a small next step.

He is not asking for a quiet opponent with no name. He is putting three different roads in front of the UFC. One leads back to Strickland. One leads to a heavyweight fight with Josh Hokit. One leads outside the promotion, straight toward Perry and Netflix.

For fans, the Perry idea is the easiest one to picture. Costa and Perry would not need a long build. Both fighters like chaos. Both can sell a fight with a few lines. Both have enough damage-friendly style to make people watch even without a belt involved.

For the UFC, the situation is not that simple. Letting Costa leave for one fight would be a big decision, especially when he still has value on the roster. The promotion may prefer to use him against another ranked middleweight or keep him available for a bigger UFC card.

Costa still did what he wanted to do. He made his next fight a public conversation. He put Perry’s name next to his own. He reminded UFC that he wants something big. Now the promotion has to decide whether to use that noise or shut it down.

Right now, Perry sounds like the fight Costa wants most. Whether UFC allows that is another question. But Costa has already made the next move louder than a normal matchmaking update.