Preview: UFC Fight Night 178 Prelims

Bantamweights

Journey Newson (9-2) vs. Randy Costa (5-1)

ODDS: Newson (-140), Costa (+120)

It will be interesting to see if Boston’s Costa can stay afloat in the UFC, if only because he is one of the promotion’s least-inexperienced signings in terms of being a traditional prospect. Heading into his 2019 debut, Costa had racked up four wins over the prior 10 months that lasted less than three minutes combined. As you would expect, Costa’s style is all wild power strikes built around getting his opponent out of the cage as quickly as possible, and “The Zohan” is 1-for-2 thus far. He had Brandon Davis in trouble before losing in the second round, but he managed to stop Boston Salmon for another first-round finish. Costa looks to build off that win when he meets Newson, who has impressed in the UFC thus far but is technically looking for his first win inside the Octagon. Newson was relatively unknown heading into a late-notice UFC debut in 2019, but acquitted himself well in a decision loss to Ricardo Ramos, showing a surprising amount of poise. He followed that with a 38-second knockout of Domingo Pilarte in February, but the win was overturned due to a failed marijuana test. Costa could certainly win this—Newson is undersized and seemed thrown off by Pilarte’s size and aggression during the brief moments their fight lasted—but he has just not proven enough to pick him outside of the most advantageous style matchups. The pick is Newson via second-round stoppage.

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