Amid a push to ingratiate itself in MMA, online crypto casino Shuffle announced a partnership with Brazilian UFC light heavyweight Paulo Costa.
- Shuffle also has a U.S. sweepstakes casino platform.
- The crypto casino wants to become the leading crypto gambling platform.
- Shuffle previously made headlines for paying a controversial online personality to get off the internet.
Shuffle Casino, headquartered in Curacao, was founded in February 2023. It offers casino-style games and sports betting odds to customers, who may use cryptocurrency to fund their accounts.
A U.S. sweepstakes version of the platform called Shuffle.US was launched in September 2025.
The casino touted Costa’s UFC resume and growing profile when announcing the partnership.
“Shuffle.com is thrilled to welcome Paulo Costa to the Shuffle family,” the announcement reads. “Paulo is one of the most explosive fighters in the UFC.
“A former middleweight title challenger and current top-ranked light heavyweight contender, he is one of the most recognized athletes to come out of Brazil. Few fighters command an audience the way he does.”
Costa, the UFC’s fifth-ranked light heavyweight contender, has not confirmed his next fight. He most recently beat the previously undefeated Azamat Murzakanov on April 11.
Shuffle partners with Costa
Costa made noise when he decided last year to move up a division. Stopping Azamat via TKO with a high head kick added steam to the 35-year-old’s pursuit of a title fight against Carlos Ulberg.
“Anyone who’s watched Paulo fight knows what he’s about,” the announcement reads. “He doesn’t wait, he doesn’t take a backward step, and he sets a pace most opponents can’t live with.
“This is exactly the ambition we have for Shuffle. We are not content with sitting around. We strive for the top and to set the pace in the industry, instead of following anyone’s lead.”
The sponsorship reflects Shuffle's ambitions to grow its profile beyond its core online gambling business.
“This partnership is part of our wider push into MMA and combat sports, fueling our ambition for Shuffle to be the premier crypto betting platform,” the announcement reads.
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Shuffle's approach to marketing
Shuffle Casino was recently in the headlines for a back-and-forth with controversial online personality Jack Doherty.
Doherty claimed that he signed a contract with the gambling platform that required him to abstain from posting online content without realizing that Shuffle intended to enforce that obligation.
Shuffle co-founder Noah Dummett said that the contract was real, and that it was “money well spent” to get Doherty off the internet.
