If UFC 278 was Paulo Costa’s final fight with the UFC, it was one to remember. Costa and former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold engaged in all-out war in every round. It was a landmark statement from Costa, who won the bout via decision and entered the Octagon riding a two-fight skid. Dana White told the post-fight press conference that he hopes to resign Costa, but the Brazilian middleweight seemed to have other ideas.
White also took a moment to blast USADA for drug testing Costa early in the morning during his gruelling weight cut to 185 pounds. “I apologized to [Paulo Costa] on stage. That’ll never happen again to any fighter.
UFC Aiming to Resign Paulo Costa, Costa Wants to “See What’s Best For Us”
[USADA] don’t know about fighting the way that people who know about fighting know about fighting. You don’t go in and test a guy at 6 in the morning when he’s cutting weight. The result’s going to be the same a few hours later. You wait. I apologized to him on stage when he came out, and that won’t happen to another fighter again. Nothing but respect for both of those guys tonight. Of course we’d like to re-sign [Costa]. We’ll see what happens.”
Paulo Costa, however, might not want to return to the UFC. Now a free agent, as a top-ranked middleweight, he could feasibly chase bigger paydays with another organisation. Considering that Paulo Costa is unlikely to see another title opportunity, nor to take out reigning champion Israel Adesanya, he may well go elsewhere. “Borrachinha” even considered boxing.
“We’ve had a lot of great opportunities [that] came up. We know that boxing is going very well. We have some companies doing very good shows, even in Brazil. Brazil has a big show there, a fight music show. We had the most popular people in Brazil fighting there.
We have a lot of great opportunities there, but the UFC is a great company. I’m glad to be here, but I need to see what’s best for us.” Above all, Costa wants to stay active.“I can fight in a couple months, maybe two months next, of course.
I’d like to fight in December or end of November. But I know we have UFC Rio in Brazil in January, so maybe I can wait a little more. I don’t know if this is my last fight. I need to check with [my team], my people.
If this is the last fight, so I have no more on the contract, I need to sit down and put attention and look what is best for my future. If I have one more, let’s see what Dana White has for me. I’m pretty sure they do an amazing job making exciting fights happen. They know how to eat.” Should Paulo Costa stay with the UFC? Let us know in the comments.
