Whittaker vs Costa

Who won Whittaker vs Costa?

Robert Whittaker beat Paulo Costa by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest during the co-main event of UFC 298, on Saturday 17th February 2024 at Honda Center in Anaheim.

The scorecards were announced as 29-28, 29-28, 30-27 in favor of the winner Robert Whittaker.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Middleweight division, which meant the weight limit was 185 pounds (13.2 stone or 83.9 KG).

Whittaker vs Costa stats

Robert Whittaker stepped into the octagon with a record of 24 wins, 7 losses and 0 draws, 9 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 5 by submission.

Paulo Costa made his way to the cage with a record of 14 wins, 2 losses and 0 draws, 11 of those wins coming by knock out and 1 by submission.

Robert Whittaker's UFC record stood at 16-5-0, while Paulo Costa's came in at 6-3-0.

The stats suggested Costa had a massive power advantage over Whittaker, boasting a 79% knock out percentage over Whittaker's 38%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Whittaker had an advantage over Costa, with a 21% submission rate over Costa's 7%.

Robert Whittaker was the same age as Paulo Costa, at 33 years old.

Costa had a height advantage of 1 inch over Whittaker. Despite this, he had 2-inch reach advantage.

Whittaker was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 15 more fights, and made his debut in 2009, 2 years and 11 months earlier than Costa, whose first professional fight was in 2012. He had fought 53 more professional rounds, 84 to Costa's 31.

Whittaker vs Costa form

Robert Whittaker had beaten 3 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had lost to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 290 on 8th July 2023 by knockout in the 2nd round at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, United States.

Previous to that, he had won against Marvin Vettori at UFC Fight Night Paris on 3rd September 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Accor Arena, Paris, France.

Going into that contest, he had been beaten by Israel Adesanya at UFC 271 on 12th February 2022 by unanimous decision in their UFC Middleweight championship fight at Toyota Center, Houston, United States.

Before that, he had beaten Kelvin Gastelum at UFC Vegas 24 on 17th April 2021 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

He had defeated Jared Cannonier at UFC 254 on 24th October 2020 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at UFC Fight Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Costa had beaten 3 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going the distance twice.

In his last fight before this contest, he was victorious against Luke Rockhold at UFC 278 on 20th August 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City, United States.

Previous to that, he had been defeated by Marvin Vettori at UFC Vegas 41 on 23rd October 2021 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Going into that contest, he had lost to Israel Adesanya at UFC 253 on 26th September 2020 by knockout in the 2nd round in their UFC Middleweight championship fight at UFC Fight Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Before that, he had won against Yoel Romero at UFC 241 on 17th August 2019 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Honda Center, Anaheim, United States.

He had beaten Johny Hendricks at UFC 217 on 4th November 2017 by knockout in the 2nd round at Madison Square Garden, New York City.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Robert Whittaker had been fighting more than Paulo Costa.

Going to this contest, Robert Whittaker had last fought 9 months and 16 days ago, while Paulo Costa's last outing had been 1 year, 8 months and 4 days ago.

Whittaker's last 5 fights had come over a period of 3 years and 6 months, meaning he had been fighting on average every 8 months and 12 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 18 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3.6 rounds on average.

Costa's last 5 fights had come over a period of 6 years, 5 months and 20 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 3 months and 17 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 15 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Whittaker vs Costa?

Robert Whittaker was a 11/25 (-230) favourite going into the contest, while Paulo Costa made his way into the ring at 187/100 (+190) with oddsmakers.