Paul Costa fought Luke Rockhold in a tricky and bloody fight at UFC 278 to win again in the Octagon. He won the match by unanimous decision and received a night fight bonus for his troubles.
Yesterday, at MMA with Ariel Helwani for an hour , Costa admits He considers his fight against Rockhold to be the last fight of his UFC contract. Apparently, that’s not the case, and “Borrachinha” has one game left on his current deal.
The Brazilian said he was hungry for that game. over so he can test free agency.
“I have another one, I don’t know, I thought it was the last one, but I have another one,” he said (ht bjpenn). “I’m looking forward to being a free agent, I won’t lie to you. I (thought) this is the last of this contract.”
“I’m at a high level and I’m fighting against the best in this department and my contract is too old,” he continued. “When I fought Marvin Vettori, I got $35,000. $35,000. Because of this a few more, a few more, I got a win bonus, because when I fought Marvin Vettori, I got 20% The reduction.”
This reduction means that Costa’s performance fee at the Vitori race is about $45,000. He had 20% of his wallet confiscated for not being able to reach the 186-pound middleweight limit. Initially, his bout with Vitori was set to be a heavyweight bout, but after Costa notified the UFC he was unable to agree on a weight and the bout was converted to a light heavyweight bout. Costa lost the fight by unanimous decision. ]
Last October 23rd, Costa’s fight with Vitori made headlines at UFC Vegas 41. The bout, which airs on ESPN+, doesn’t feature any other top-ranked fighters other than Costa and Vittori.
“I need to talk and watch with them,” Costa said of potential talks with the UFC. “I’m not in a hurry to see it, but we need to see, we need to figure it out. Of course, I’m not happy with my current contract.”
Costa joined the UFC Brazil Ultimate Fighter via
. He made his professional UFC debut in 2017 at UFC Fortaleza. Costa met Joel Romero in 2019 after going through previous opponents including Johnny Hendricks and Uriah Hall.
Costa beats Romero in a frantic night fight to win UFC vs Israel Adesanya Middleweight champion.
He was defeated by Adesanya at UFC 253 in 2020, losing by TKO in the second round. After that defeat, Vitori’s battle.
A win over Rockhold last weekend improved Costa’s career record to 14-2.
