Paulo Costa has recently made headlines after a UFC 284 bout was scrapped due to failure to reach an agreement with the UFC before UFC announced the event. Costa was outspoken regarding his impending free agency.
In the past, Costa has voiced his displeasure with his low compensation, citing his $35,000 payout for a bout against Marvin Vettori. His negotiations with the UFC have been rocky, with the promotion initially offering him a $10,000 show and win contract.
After two knockouts, the UFC offered him a five bout deal worth $20,000 to show and $20,000 to win. However, Costa rejected the offer, and the two parties eventually settled on a $50,000 to show and $50,000 to win deal.
In response, UFC President Dana White addressed the pay issue and contradicted Costa’s claims, stating that he was lying about the contract offer. White further expressed his displeasure, saying that Costa was a “lunatic” and that guys like him say things like that because they know White won’t discuss it publicly.
Costa stressed yet again that his contract was far from what US based guys were getting.
“When I signed this contract, a long time ago, I have complained. I have said it is unfair, it was really out of date, it was too low. And I said, I’m fighting with the top 2, 3 in the world, winning this ridiculous bag. All the money is valid, but compared to what people and athletes from the United States and other countries earn, it’s ridiculous, so you have to increase this value”
Now it seems like the two parties are very close to a formal agreement. Costa gave an interview to PVT and explained:
“I haven’t signed a contract yet, but we reached a value agreement with the UFC. It wasn’t easy, there was a lot of work”
“when you sit down to negotiate with them, they have all the data, all the numbers, all the information about you, on their side. And we, we have nothing, we don’t have access to how many clicks, each fight of ours has on the fight pass. We don’t have real access, how many people are watching the fights, you don’t even understand, so it’s not a balanced negotiation,”
Costa went on to reveal they’re working on a May return for him and that a Khamzat Chimaev bout is in the works for October.
Chimaev is honoring Ramadan so he won’t be available for an earlier date.
“There is a great possibility of fighting Strickland in the next fight, but there is also another very big possibility, which is the fight that the UFC that I prefer to do. Which is with, I will say, Chimaev, but this fight with Chimaev would have to happen only in October, in Abu Dhabi or Dubai. I want to fight before that, because until October it’s six months”