In the wake of a withdrawal from UFC 326 that left a bad taste in some of his fellow middleweights’ mouths, Paulo Costa has a new next assignment – and it’s up a weight class.
Costa (15-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC), who less than three weeks ago pulled out of a fight against Brunno Ferreira at UFC 326 in March in Las Vegas, now will take on Azamat Murzakanov (16-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) at light heavyweight at UFC 327 (Paramount+), which is set for April 11 at Kaseya Center in Miami.
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MMA Junkie confirmed the new 205-pound booking with people with knowledge of the matchup, who asked to remain anonymous since the UFC has yet to make a formal announcement. But Costa, late Tuesday, announced the booking on his social media. The fight first was reported by Laerte Viana.
Murzakanov, a New Jersey-based Russian who came to the UFC by way of DWCS in 2021, is perfect in his pro career and has five of his six UFC wins by knockout, including back-to-back first-round finishes of Brendson Ribeiro and Aleksander Rakic in 2025.
Costa isn’t a stranger to light heavyweight – though it didn’t come under good circumstances. For a 2021 main event against Marvin Vettori at middleweight, coming off a title fight loss to Israel Adesanya that was the first setback of his career, the fight was shifted to 195 pounds leading up to the event to accommodate Costa not being able to make 185. Then they went all the way up to light heavyweight to keep the bout intact, with Costa ditching 20 percent of his purse.
The 34-year-old Brazilian lost that fight to ex-title challenger Vettori as part of a string of four setbacks in five fights. But in July 2025, he rebounded with a decision over Roman Kopylov at UFC 318. With the exception being his UFC debut, all of Costa’s fights in the promotion have been headliners or on numbered events.
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With the addition, the UFC 327 lineup now includes:
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Dominick Reyes vs. Johnny Walker
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Loopy Godinez vs. Tatiana Suarez
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Paulo Costa vs. Azamat Murzakanov
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Paulo Costa vs. Azamat Murzakanov set for UFC 327 in Miami
