UFC Star Reveals Shocking Weight Cut Details With Major Career Announcement

One of the UFC’s top-ranked contenders has decided that it’s time for him to change divisions following his recent loss.

The UFC’s June schedule kicks off this weekend with a UFC Vegas 118 card headlined by former Welterweight Champion Belal Muhammad and Gabriel Bonfim after last Saturday’s UFC Macau card closed out a four-event slate for May (not counting last week’s two Road to UFC cards).

The lone Meta APEX event last month took place on May 16 and featured a featherweight main event between Arnold Allen and Melquizael Costa, who was headlining a UFC card for the first time but suffered a unanimous decision loss to longtime UFC veteran Allen.

Melquizael Costa Reveals Massive Cut to Make Featherweight

Several weeks removed from his loss at UFC Vegas 117, Costa took to social media to reveal that he’ll be moving up to the lightweight division for his next outing.

It was a good run in this category, but my body can't handle cutting 22 kilos for each fight anymore.
Let’s go Lightweight @arielhelwani @UFCBrasil @mmahoje
— 𝙈𝙚𝙡𝙠 “𝐷𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛” 𝘾𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙖 (@MelkCostaCauthy) June 1, 2026

"It was a good run in this category, but my body can't handle cutting 22 kilos for each fight anymore.
Let’s go Lightweight"

Although Costa has never failed to make weight across his 10 UFC appearances, moving on from a sizeable cut of 22 kilograms (48.5 lbs.) seems to be enough motivation for the Brazilian to vacate a featherweight division where he’s experienced a considerable amount of success.

Dan Ige (red gloves) fights Melquizael Costa (blue gloves) in a featherweight bout during UFC Fight Night at Toyota Center. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Costa Fought at Lightweight for Short-Notice Debut at UFC 283

More than 12 years into his professional fighting career at this point, Costa went 8-0 after debuting in 2014 before suffering his first loss in 2017 at Titans FC 1 in his native Brazil.

“The Dalmation” experienced some mixed results over the next year before he kicked off what turned into a five-fight win streak in 2019. A loss in his LFA debut ended that run, but two more wins set the stage for Costa to meet his countryman Thiago Moises in a short-notice opportunity at UFC 283.

Thiago Moises (red gloves) fights Melquizael Costa (blue gloves) during UFC 283 at Jeunesse Arena. | Jason da Silva-Imagn Images

The 29-year-old was submitted by Moises in the lightweight contest before returning to the featherweight division, where he went 1-1 to close out 2023. Beginning with a third-round submission of Shayilan Nuerdanbieke, Costa ended up going on a six-fight win streak that included four finishes and a pair of post-fight bonuses.

The Brazilian’s stunning finish of featherweight veteran Dan Ige in February earned him a sizeable step up in competition against Allen, and he’s currently still ranked as the promotion’s #13 featherweight contender following the most recent update to the UFC rankings.

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