Paulo Costa recently defeated Luke Rockhold by decision to snap a two-fight losing streak. Costa appears to be planning a fight with yet another veteran at this time.
A middleweight bout between “Borrachinha” and Nick Diaz, who is a fan favourite, was recently requested. Costa also suggested a hypothetical fight between Michael Chandler and Conor McGregor. In the caption, “Borrachinha” stated:
Following a callout from middleweight contender Sean Strickland, Paulo Costa immediately called out Diaz. It might not be good for “Borrachinha” to concentrate on an almost-retired Diaz in the face of an offer from Strickland.
At UFC 266 in September 2021, Diaz fought Robbie Lawler for the last time, making a three-year break from the octagon. The fight was stopped 44 seconds into round 3 because the Stockton native, who didn’t appear to be in the finest of form, just refused to get up following a knockdown.
Dana White, president of the UFC, has stated that he doesn’t want to see Diaz rematch.
Paulo Costa claims the UFC pays Brazilians lesser
Paulo Costa and the UFC are currently engaged in a contract dispute over his pay. Even though he was supposed to fight Robert Whittaker at UFC 284, “Borrachinha” withdrew because he wanted a bigger payday.
Costa further asserted that he declined a six-fight contract extension since he previously regretted agreeing to a comparable agreement in 2017. Even further, “Borrachinha” claimed that the UFC underpaid Brazilian fighters.
Paulo Costa claims that the promotion undercuts the demand for Brazilian boxers because of a disparity in the value of their currency compared to the US dollar. In a recent appearance on The MMA Hour, Costa stated:
I believe they simply provide extremely few numbers for Brazilians. They might reason, “Oh, those motherfuckers in Brazil, they live in the jungle, they don’t need real money because the currency is like five times less than dollars, so let’s pay bullshit,” or something to that effect. I should stop doing it at some time and say that. However, I refrained because we Brazilians only want to fight, so I didn’t. We don’t really give a damn. Don’t do anything for free or for shitmoney if you are skilled at it. I’ve already done a lot, and that’s plenty.