UFC Hall Of Famer Baffled By Paulo Costa's Withdrawal From UFC 294

"He’s a bit of a madman, isn’t he?”

Author:
Drew Beaupré
Publish date:
Oct 16, 2023 2:38 PM EDT

One former UFC titleholder took a closer look at Paulo Costa’s startling history of scrapped fights following his withdrawal from UFC 294.

“The Eraser” is currently the #6-ranked contender in the UFC’s middleweight division. Costa carried an unbeaten record into a title shot against Israel Adesanya at UFC 253 but was stopped with strikes in the second round, and since then the Brazilian has only stepped into the Octagon on two occasions.

The 32-year-old was expected to welcome Khamzat Chimaev to the middleweight division in the co-main event of UFC 294 this weekend before he was forced to withdraw from the matchup due to an infection that occurred following surgery on his elbow.

Costa has taken a considerable amount of heat for pulling out of UFC 294, and on his Believe You Me podcast Michael Bisping expressed some disbelief at how often the Brazilian has failed to enter the cage after being booked to fight.

Paulo Costa UFC — Costa has only fought twice since his middleweight title shot in 2020.
(Jeffrey Swinger/USA TODAY Sports)

“He’s out of his mind,” Bisping told Paul Felder. “I’m a fan of Costa, I love what he brings to the table. I was excited for the fight with Chimaev…But look at all these canceled bouts. Irkam [Aliskerov], Khamzat, [Luke] Rockhold, Jared Cannonier, Robert Whittaker. There’s more down there [on his Tapology page]…He’s a bit of a madman, isn’t he?”

Costa’s withdrawal from UFC 294 threw the card’s co-main event into serious jeopardy considering how close it was to fight night, but the promotion managed to rebook Chimaev to meet former welterweight king Kamaru Usman in an intriguing matchup between two fighters making their respective middleweight debuts.

The co-main event drama was actually the second major storyline that rocked UFC 294 after the night’s headlining title fight between Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira was scrapped due to a serious cut Oliveira sustained during sparring.

UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski quickly stepped up for his second bid at claiming Makhachev’s lightweight title, and many fans seem to feel that the card is now at least as good or even better than it was with the originally scheduled bouts that were atop the event.

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