Alessandro Costa frequently trained body shot that finished Stewart Nicoll

Costa took on Stewart
Nicoll in a flyweight clash at
UFC Fight Night 272 in Las Vegas. “Nono” invested in Nicoll’s
body throughout the fight, chipping away at the sides. Costa
finally loaded up and landed a crushing shot to Nicoll’s liver,
folding him with seconds left in the second round.  Costa
revealed that he practices the fight-ending liver shot every day in
training. The 30-year-old also couldn’t help a little “I told you
so” call to his coach in Brazil. Costa was looking to maintain the
distance against Nicoll, who was trying to crowd him. Costa planned
to patiently wait for the perfect shot, which paid off.

Not By Chance

“I train that every day,” Nicoll said in a post-fight interview
with the UFC. “I just called my coach and I told him, ‘I told you
remember.’ I train that every day, so it’s like my shot now… I was
looking for some space. He was very tough in that fight. My plan
was to be a little bit patient, try to look for the perfect
timing.” 

Costa (15-5) is now 3-3 in the
UFCsince his debut in 2022, only going to the scorecards once
in a loss against Steve
Erceg. While he has mostly fought once a year in the UFC so
far, Costa plans to have a couple of more outings before the end of
this year. Meanwhile, Australia’s Nicoll (8-3) is in a precarious
position, having lost all three of his UFC bouts so far.