Like many Brazilian fighters, Alessandro Costa’s career has been heavily influenced by Jose Aldo. And being days away from sharing a card with the MMA legend, Costa has no problem fanboying over this moment.
Costa (13-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC) fights Kevin Borjas (9-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) on Saturday in the opening bout of UFC 301 in Brazil – the same card where Aldo makes his highly anticipated return to MMA. Aldo, a former UFC and WEC featherweight champion, is coming out of MMA retirement to take on rising contender Jonathan Martinez in the co-main event of the card at Rio Arena in Rio de Janeiro (pay-per-view, ESPN2, ESPN+).
This is a special moment for Costa, who’s almost in disbelief that he’s sharing the same card with the man that inspired him to begin his combat sports journey 14 years go.