The highly anticipated fight between Paulo Costa and Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294 has reportedly been called off due to circumstances beyond Paulo Costa’s control. The UFC CEO’s greatest worries appear to have come true, as it was recently revealed by Dana White that the bout may be in peril owing to the Brazilian’s bursitis ailment, and it appears that the injury may prevent the Brazilian from competing.
According to the OverDogs Podcast, ‘Borrachinha’ has been formally pulled from his fight against Chimaev, and the organization has invited Marvin Vettori to step in on short notice. However, ‘The Italian Dream’ declined the challenge, leaving the UFC scrambling to find a top-ranked middleweight challenger who could take on ‘Borz’ in their next bout.
After suffering from a severe case of bursitis for quite some time, Paulo Costa disclosed earlier this week that he had surgery performed on his right elbow. In the aftermath of the incident, ‘Borrachinha’ required 10 stitches and was instructed to rest for two weeks without engaging in any form of physical activity. Even though Costa was set about facing Chimaev just five weeks after surgery, it appears that he may have to wait a little bit longer than he had originally planned.
Paulo Costa hasn’t competed since his victory against Luke Rockhold at UFC 278, which took place in August 2022. The fight was decided by a unanimous decision. Although he was rumored to fight Robert Whittaker at UFC 284 and Ikram Aliskeriv at UFC 291, his rivalry with Khamzat Chimaev ultimately resulted in the booking of their bout at UFC 294. However, it is still unknown whether or not they will engage in combat at some point in the future.
This is the second high-profile fight that was scheduled to take place on the UFC 294 program that has been scrapped in the last 48 hours. An earlier report indicated that Charles Oliveira, who was scheduled to defend his championship against Islam Makhachev, was forced to withdraw from the bout due to an injury. Alexander Volkanovski, who most recently competed against the Dagestani grappling sensation in a super fight at UFC 280, has supplanted him as the champion of the featherweight division.
