Dana White has no sympathy for Paulo Costa as the enigmatic light heavyweight attempts to fight out his UFC contract and become a free agent.
Costa has one bout left on his current deal and is eager to get it done. But he’s also not willing to accept a five round fight because it doesn’t pay more than a three round fight. That’s led to a number of statements from Costa on X (formerly Twitter) accusing UFC matchmakers of being unfair.
“Ok, I’m making this public and clear,” Costa wrote on Sunday. “I
have 1 fight left. On my contract The purse is set for 3 rounds, not 5. I’m asking for the 3-round fight that was already agreed on contract . It can be anyone on the UFC LHW roaster.”
“I think Hunter has 3 options now: A) Give me that last 3-round fight (I’ll take any opponent). B) Give me a 5-round fight at LHW against anyone in 6 weeks. I’ll take it, BUT raise my purse accordingly. That’s the minimum that’s fair, right? C) Release me from my contract now. Simple and clean. I hope everyone understands.”
In truth, Hunter Campbell has a fourth option: continue offering Costa fights he turns down, which allows the UFC to toll his contract and extend it indefinitely. UFC CEO Dana White put this in terms much friendlier to his interests than that, but basically said the same thing.
“What the f—k does that event mean? He’s been offered fights and turned them down,” White said following the latest Contender Series event. “We don’t just say, ‘F—k Paulo Costa and you’re not gonna get a fight. No, we’re not gonna pay you. No, we’re not gonna do this.’ Guys get offered three fights a year, regularly.”
“Even guys that aren’t fighting. Like, Tom Aspinall’s eyes are messed up. He’s getting offered fights. You think Paulo Costa isn’t getting offered fights?”
That last part is telling: even Tom Aspinall is getting offered fights even though he’s injured. That’s not because the UFC is making sure everyone is offered a fair amount of fights per year. That’s because every time a fighter turns down a fight, their contract gets extended by several months. The UFC used to offer Francis Ngannou fights on the dates when he was in Cameroon getting his visa renewed — fights they knew he couldn’t accept but allowed them to extend his contract and leave him on the sidelines.
Since that disastrous antitrust case payout, the UFC has gotten a lot better about not going into insane ratf—k mode every time a fighter on their roster attempts to enter free agency. But when it comes to bigger names attempting to leave the organization, there can still be a lot of friction like you’re seeing with Paulo Costa. If Paulo isn’t willing to just take what he can get, he might be sitting idle on the UFC’s roster for a long time.
