The Dalmatian Is Moving to 155. Costa Says His Body Can't Handle 49 Pound Cuts Anymore

We wrote the origin story on Melquizael Costa two weeks ago. The kid from Porto de Moz who sold popsicles on the street, got bullied for his vitiligo, renamed himself The Dalmatian, and walked out to Hakuna Matata for his first ever UFC main event against Arnold Allen.

He lost that fight by unanimous decision. Allen outclassed him over five rounds and the six fight win streak was over.

Today Costa announced he's leaving featherweight.

"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."

22 kilograms. That's 49 pounds. The Dalmatian has been cutting 49 pounds to make 145 every single time he fights. And he said he's done doing it.

49 Pounds

I need you to actually sit with that number for a second because we throw around weight cut numbers in MMA like they're normal and they're not.

49 pounds. That means Costa walks around somewhere near 194 pounds and drains his body down to 145 to make the featherweight limit every fight. Every time he steps on that scale he's almost a quarter lighter than his natural weight.

For context, Chimaev was cutting about 50 pounds to make middleweight and TJ Dillashaw said he was "on the verge of death" during the UFC 328 cut. His body stopped sweating. He puked green bile. He offered Strickland a million dollars to accept a catchweight because he thought he was going to die. Chimaev's cut is universally considered one of the worst in recent UFC history. Costa's cut was one pound LESS than that. And he was doing it to make featherweight, not middleweight.

Whittaker was cutting 53 pounds to make middleweight and finally moved to light heavyweight because his body couldn't take it anymore. His exact words were "I want to train fed, train fully fueled, and come into fight week feeling good for once."

Costa is making the same call. The same "my body is screaming at me and I need to listen before something terrible happens" moment that every fighter who cuts too much weight eventually reaches.

The Allen Fight Was the Final Straw

Costa went into the Allen fight on a six fight win streak with four finishes. First person to stop Dan Ige by strikes in Ige's entire career. Performance of the Night bonuses. The Dalmatian was rolling and the Allen main event was supposed to be the next step toward the featherweight title.

But, he lost. Not badly or embarrassingly but he lost. Allen just outworked him technically over five rounds. But when you're cutting 49 pounds to make weight and you still lose a decision, the question becomes obvious. How much of that loss was the weight cut and how much was the opponent?

We'll never know the exact answer. But Costa apparently decided the cut was costing him more than the division was giving him. Six straight wins at 145 and when he finally got the biggest fight of his career, his body may not have been able to perform at the level his talent deserved because he'd drained 49 pounds out of it two days earlier.

That's the weight cut trap. You make the weight and you show up. You compete but you're competing at 80% because your body used 20% of its energy just surviving the scale. And against a guy like Allen who's precise and technical and doesn't make mistakes, that missing 20% is the difference between winning and losing.

What 155 Looks Like for The Dalmatian

At lightweight Costa would be cutting roughly 39 pounds instead of 49. Still a significant cut but ten pounds less is genuinely life changing for a fighter's body. That's ten fewer pounds of water to drain. Ten fewer pounds of suffering in the sauna. Ten fewer pounds standing between him and feeling normal on fight night.

His striking translates to any weight class. The power that was stopping guys at 145 should hit even harder at 155 when he's not depleted. His cardio, which was always solid at featherweight, should improve because his body isn't fighting itself to recover from a brutal cut before the fight even starts.

The question is whether his frame holds up against bigger lightweights. At featherweight Costa was a big man cutting down. At lightweight he'll be a normal sized guy fighting at his natural weight. The size advantage disappears. The wrestling advantage might shift because lightweights are generally bigger and stronger in the clinch.

But honestly? Who cares about the unknowns. The man was cutting 49 pounds. 49. That's not sustainable no matter how tough you are. Moving to 155 is the smart play even if the early results aren't as flashy as the six fight streak at 145.

The Weight Cut Problem Isn't Going Away

Here's what keeps standing out to me across all of these stories.

Chimaev nearly died making 185. Costa was cutting 49 pounds to make 145. Whittaker was draining 53 pounds to make middleweight. Three different fighters, three different weight classes, the same story. The cuts are too extreme and the fighters are paying for it with their health and their performances.

The UFC has no rules about how much weight a fighter can cut. They weigh in the day before the fight. They rehydrate overnight. And by the time the cage door closes they're often 20 to 30 pounds heavier than what the scale said 24 hours earlier. The system incentivizes cutting as much as possible because the bigger you are compared to your opponent on fight night, the bigger your advantage.

But the system is also nearly killing people. Chimaev puked green bile. Costa drained 49 pounds every camp for years. Whittaker said he "nearly blinded himself" cutting to welterweight before moving to middleweight. At some point the conversation has to shift from "how much can you cut" to "how much should you be allowed to cut."

Costa made his own call. Listened to his body. Made the move. That takes courage honestly because featherweight is where his ranking is, where his momentum was, where his brand was built. Walking away from all of that to start over at 155 is not easy. But staying at 145 and cutting 49 pounds until his body breaks the way Chimaev's almost did is worse.

The Dalmatian at 155

The kid from Porto de Moz who sold popsicles, got treated like he had leprosy, and renamed himself after the insult is starting a new chapter. Again.

He did it when he left Porto de Moz for the gyms. He did it when he turned professional at 17. He did it when he went 1-2 in the UFC and everybody counted him out. He did it when he changed his nickname to The Dalmatian and walked out to Hakuna Matata.

Now he's doing it again at 155. New weight class. New division. Same fighter who's been reinventing himself since he was a kid getting bullied for his skin.

"My body can't handle it anymore." Fair enough. But if there's one thing Costa's whole career has proven, it's that the man knows how to start over. And starting over has always worked out for him eventually.

Hakuna Matata. Lightweight edition.

Thanks for riding with CageLore. Stay locked in!

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Melquizael Costa leaving featherweight?

Costa announced on social media and the MMA HOJE podcast that he is moving to lightweight because his body "can't handle cutting 22 kilos for each fight anymore." That's approximately 49 pounds he was cutting to make the 145 pound featherweight limit.

What happened in the Arnold Allen fight?

Allen defeated Costa by unanimous decision at UFC Vegas 117 on May 16, 2026. It was Costa's first loss since 2024 and ended a six fight winning streak that included four finishes and a Performance of the Night bonus.

What is Costa's record?

Costa is 26-8 overall and 7-3 in the UFC. He went 1-2 in his first three UFC fights before going on a six fight win streak that ended with the Allen loss.

How does Costa's weight cut compare to other fighters?

Costa's 49 pound cut is comparable to Khamzat Chimaev's approximately 50 pound cut to middleweight, which TJ Dillashaw described as nearly fatal before UFC 328. Robert Whittaker cut 53 pounds to make middleweight before moving to light heavyweight in 2026.

What will Costa's ranking be at lightweight?

Costa was ranked #12 at featherweight. He will likely be unranked when he debuts at lightweight and will need to build his way back into the rankings against a new set of opponents.

When will Costa fight at lightweight?

No fight date has been announced yet. Costa simply stated "let's go lightweight" in his announcement, suggesting he is ready to compete at 155 as soon as the UFC books him.