Two middleweights with an increasingly heated rivalry will throw down in a light heavyweight clash in the main event of UFC Fight Night 196 in Las Vegas.

Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori both want to earn another shot at reigning UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, but their contender bout took a strange turn during fight week when Costa arrived over weight and asked for a catchweight bout.

A bout at 195 pounds was agreed, but then, after Costa said he also couldn’t make the newly-agreed mark, the bout was bumped up to a fully fledged light heavyweight bout at 205 pounds.

Now the pair, who have made their names at 185 pounds, will do battle 20 pounds heavier, with plenty of bad blood in the mix.

Follow the live results from the UFC Apex here:

Main Card

  • Paulo Costa vs. Marvin Vettori
  • Grant Dawson vs. Rick Glenn
  • Jessica-Rose Clark vs. Joselyne Edwards
  • Alex Caceres vs. Seung Woo Choi
  • Dwight Grant vs. Francisco Trinaldo
  • Nicolae Negumereanu def. Ike Villanueva via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:18

Prelims

  • Gregory Rodrigues def. Jun Yong Park via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 3:13
  • Mason Jones def. David Onama via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
  • Tabatha Ricci def. Maria de Oliveira Neta via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Jamie Pickett def. Laureano Staropoli via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
  • Jai Herbert def. Khama Worthy via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:47
  • Jeff Molina def. Daniel Lacerda via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 0:46
  • Randa Markos def. Livia Renata Souza via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
  • Jonathan Martinez def. Zviad Lazishvili via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)