There is only one opponent Paulo Costa wants for his next appearance inside the Octagon: Marvin Vettori, and only Marvin Vettori.

After winning ten straight fights — half of those as a member of the UFC roster — Costa (13-2) is in the midst of the first losing streak of his career. In Sept. of 2020, he came up short against division king Israel Adesanya in his first opportunity to compete for UFC gold. He returned to action 13 months later with a disastrous fight week where he was unable to make the middleweight limit, and then lost to division rival Vettori (18-4-1) in a hard-fought five-round war.

Following his second straight loss, the assumption was that the 30-year-old’s days as a middleweight were done, due to an extensive history of difficulties in making the weight limit. However, that does not seem to be the case. Costa is hell-bent on a return to 185-pounds for a revenge fight against “The Italian Dream,” and that is the only fight he wants next.

Paulo Costa only wants a rematch with Marvin Vettori next

I’ll fight him now. It’s the only fight that interests me. No one else interests me,” Costa told “>Ag.Fight. “Unless if it’s for the title, but I’m no fool. I’m not stupid to consider [a title fight] now. I want to fight him. He’s the only viable guy that interests me. If it’s not him, I’m not even interested in fighting. I let [UFC President] Dana White know that.

The heat between Vettori and Costa was a slow-building wave that rose for months before it crashed inside the UFC Apex last year and led to a highly entertaining bout. But for Costa, their battle did not settle things. He still has a deep-seeded hate for the second-ranked middleweight. And the Brazilian’s anger is so strong that he claimed in his chat with Ag. Fight that he wants to end Vettori’s life, or at the very least, seriously injure him.

Costa says he wants to injure Vettori and cost him ‘at least a year’ of his career

I don’t respect him. I want to end his life,” said Costa. “He’s an a**hole, a fool. He had this win over me and thinks he’s the man, but he’s an a**hole, a child. We see he’s a goof, he can’t even wear shorts the right way. There’s a photo of him with his shorts backward, and he still thinks he’s the man. But I’ll fight him again. I mean, at least I plan to.

I’m not saying I want to fight Vettori because he took my place in the ranking, he continued. It’s not about that. It’s because he’s an a**hole. I have to fight him. I have to erase this loss. I want to leave him sidelined for at least a year after the beating I give him. I want to hurt him.”

They really let Marvin Vettori do a photoshoot for the biggest fight of his career with his shorts on backwards💀😭 pic.twitter.com/3hNgSnt9fY

— Fight Night Bets (@fightnightbets_) June 10, 2021

Both Vettori and Costa have not competed since their bout in October. Although losing to Vettori began a losing streak for Costa, his opponent was able to avoid a consecutive loss when he beat “The Eraser.” Before his win over Costa, Vettori also lost to Adesanya in a bid to become division champion.

If a rematch is made, who would you pick in Vettori vs Costa II?