After a year off from fighting and a cold streak, Aulo Costa promised a new kind of fighter on Saturday. He came through at UFC 318. With a unanimous decision win (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) over the up-and-coming Roman Kopylov in the co-main event of UFC 318 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, the former middleweight challenger got his first win in over three years and his second in almost six years. Paulo Henrique Costa 15-4-0 The Final Judge's Decision R3, 5:00 Costa (15-4), who was the underdog going into the bout, looked like the fighter that started his career 13-0. He knocked Kopylov (14-4) down in the first round and was in charge for most of the fight. Kopylov landed some big strokes in the third round, but they weren't nearly enough to change the outcome of the night. The nicest thing that can be said about Costa is that he has only lost to some of the finest fighters in the UFC. Israel Adesanya, a former two-time middleweight champion, gave Costa his first loss in one of his best fights. Both Marvin Vettori and Robert Whittaker won by a unanimous decision. Sean Strickland won by split decision in a fight that was very quiet. Costa took a long break after the last fight, which was at UFC 302 in June 2024. He pledged to be aggressive again against Kopylov, whose own fighting style promised a lot of action if Costa kept his word. He did, and the result was one of the best performances of the Brazilian's career. Costa promised before the fight that he would call out Khamzat Chimaev, who is going to fight him in the middleweight division, after a fight date fell through. "Everyone knows I can't stand that guy. Everyone knows who it is. Costa told ESPN after the fight, "That motherf***er Khamzat Chimaev." "My wife is over here." He sent her a direct message... He talked awful things about me and her, but he never sent me anything since he is a coward. You are a coward, Chimaev. "I'm here. I'm going to find you, chase you, and not stop until I do." The two have not been friends for a long fight, but Costa might need more than just this win to get Chimaev if Chimaev overcomes middleweight title Dricus du Plessis at UFC 319 in August. Uncrowned's UFC 318 hub has everything you need to know about UFC 318, including live results, play-by-play, and highlights of the whole Dustin Poirier vs. Max Holloway 3 pay-per-view card.