Paulo Costa moves to 205, faces Azamat Murzakanov at UFC 327

Paulo Costa is heading to the light heavyweight division, and he looks to hand one of the division’s surging contenders his first loss.

Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed to MMA Fighting that Costa is set to face Azamat Murzakanov at UFC 327. The event takes place April 11 and is expected to take place in Miami, although the UFC has yet to announced. Laerte Viana was first to report the booking on Twitter.

Murzakanov is a perfect 16-0, including a 6-0 run in the UFC. “The Professional” makes his first appearance in 2026 coming off of a 2-0 campaign in 2025 where he stopped Aleksandar Rakic and Brendson Ribeiro in the first round. Murzakanov currently sits at No. 8 in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings at 205 pounds.

Costa, a one-time UFC title challenger, heads up a weight class after getting back on track with a decision win over Roman Kopylov at UFC 318 this past July. The win snapped a two-fight losing skid for Costa, who is 2-4 in his past six overall — including losses to Sean Strickland, Robert Whittaker, and Israel Adesanya in his lone title fight. Costa’s lone light heavyweight appearance was due to weight-cutting issues ahead of his UFC Vegas 41 main event bout in October 2021, losing the bout via decision.

Guilherme Cruz contributed to this report.