Paulo Costa's UFC 294 Fight-Cancelling Infection Revealed in Disgusting Photo

This nasty image of Costa's elbow is not for the faint of heart.

Author:
Drew Beaupré
Publish date:
Oct 17, 2023 1:51 PM EDT

Paulo Costa has faced quite a bit of criticism for withdrawing from UFC 294, but it certainly looks like the Brazilian is in no condition to fight considering the gruesome state of his elbow.

“The Eraser” was expected to meet Khamzat Chimaev this weekend in the co-main event of UFC 294. The bout would have seen Costa enter the Octagon for the first time since his wild 'Fight of the Night' performance against Luke Rockhold at UFC 278 last year.

The Brazilian’s list of cancelled fights from the last few years encouraged quite a bit of fan speculation that he might not make it into the cage to face Chimaev, and less than two weeks out from UFC 294 it was announced that “The Eraser” couldn't compete in Abu Dhabi and would be replaced by Kamaru Usman.

Costa was quick to apologize to fans for his withdrawal but maintained the decision was entirely out of his hands due to severe bursitis in his elbow. Following the UFC middleweight’s latest surgery, his girlfriend and manager Tamara Alves shared a gruesome photo that may silence some of the criticism that’s been directed at the Brazilian.

Paulo Costa UFC 294 — Costa was forced to withdraw from UFC 294 due to an elbow infection.
(Instagram: @tamara_alves)

“The Eraser” will obviously need to make sure that the infection in his elbow is fully addressed before he can begin thinking about a potential return date and hopefully establish a more consistent level of activity.

Costa previously challenged Israel Adesanya for the UFC middleweight title in 2020 but suffered the first loss of his pro career in that outing, and since then he’s only competed on two occasions when he dropped a decision to Marvin Vettori and defeated Rockhold in what turned out to be the former champion's final UFC bout.

A victory over Chimaev could have put Costa right back into the middleweight title picture, and according to Dana White the winner of the new co-main event between “Borz” and Usman will now receive the first crack at Sean Strickland’s recently-acquired middleweight belt.

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