Matt Schnell over false-start retirement, eyeing upset of Costa
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LAS VEGAS – Matt Schnell probably has a lot of emotion riding on his fight this week.
For starters, Schnell (17-10 MMA, 7-8 UFC) was supposed to fight Alessandro Costa (15-5 MMA, 3-3 UFC) in a flyweight bout in September 2024. But Costa pulled out of the fight, and Schnell fought Cody Durden, instead, on short notice.
The result was a submission loss early in the second round, and Schnell isn't at all thrilled about what went down in the minutes afterward. He took his gloves off and left them in the center of the cage – the universal-ish combat sports sign a fighter has decided to retire.
But Schnell was back a half-year later like nothing ever happened with the whole glove thing. Looking back on the glove laydown situation, the 36-year-old probably would've done something different.
"I think I just pitched a fit there in that moment, and I also thought the UFC was going to cut me," Schnell told MMA Junkie and other media members Wednesday ahead of UFC Fight Night 278. "Hunter (Campbell) met me in the back, and I've got a great relationship with Mick Maynard, but I don't want to leverage that type of thing. I thought it might be my last one, so I figured get ahead of it a little bit and just retire. (Then I could say) I didn't get cut – I retired.
"But now we're back. Not my best moment, if I'm being honest – an emotional moment, one where, if I could take it back, I would have. But it is what it is."
But that whole thing started when Costa pulled out to begin with. And now, Schnell gets another shot at him after Imanol Rodriguez pulled out. Costa is more than a 4-1 betting favorite in the fight, similar to what he was when their matchup first was booked in 2024.
The flyweights will close out the UFC Fight Night 278 (Paramount+) prelims at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas.
It's unfortunate that the fight with Imanol fell apart," Schnell sais. "I'm not that mad at it, though, to be perfectly honest. I'm good about it. Alessandro Costa is a former foe, somebody that we had prepared for in the past, so it just felt like let's just rock with it.
"… Both (Rodriguez and Alessandro are) tough draws, but that's where we are. We just have to understand where we are in our career – when is the time to push forward and make a tough call. So it is what it is: Alessandro Costa is up. Let's go."
Schnell has dropped four of his past five fights. He's been in the UFC for 10 years after getting his start in the promotion on Season 24 of "The Ultimate Fighter" – the edition of the series that featured flyweight champions from other promotions around the world. Schnell became LFA champ at 125 pounds in 2016.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Matt Schnell over false-start retirement, eyeing upset of Costa