Paulo Costa has hinted at a potential switch to boxing with his UFC contract coming to an end soon. Costa called his current contract with the Dana White-led UFC ‘miserable’ and said it would ‘expire in time’.
A main card matchup between Costa and former undisputed middleweight champion Robert Whittaker is tentatively slated for UFC 284. The event will take place in Perth, Australia in February of next year. Costa is currently ranked as the sixth middleweight contender.
The native of Belo Horizonte last competed at middleweight, beating former champion Luke Rockhold by a majority decision at UFC 278 in August.
UFC 278 was marked by talk about athlete compensation after both Paulo Costa and Luke Rockhold used media week to spotlight different issues regarding UFC’s pay structure.
In the end Utah State Athletic Commission revealed the disclosed purses sharing that Rockhold made $200,000 for his final outing prior to retiring. Meanwhile Costa made only $120,000 – $60,000 to show and $60,000 to win.
Ahead of the event Costa told media:
“Yes. I’m looking forward to being free agent for sure … I’m at the high high level, fighting the best in this division and my contract is so old. Too old. And when I fought Marvin Vettori, I got $35,000. “
“For this one [at UFC 278], is a couple more, I got the win bonus and because when I fought Marvin Vettori, I got 20% deduction [for missing weight] … I need to talk, to see with [UFC], and see. I’m not rushing up to sign, but we need to see. We need to figure out. I’m not happy with the current contract, of course.”
The Brazilian expressed resentment over how little money he was making in comparison to YouTuber and recent victor Jake Paul recently as well.
Paulo Costa tweeted, “My miserable contract with the UFC was up in a few short months. Will expire in time. A new #boxer is coming to town! (raised hands emoji)”
My miserable contract with the UFC was up in a few short months. will expire in time . A new #boxer is coming to town!🙌
— Paulo Costa ( Borrachinha ) (@BorrachinhaMMA) November 3, 2022
Costa was the former middleweight champion of a Brazilian promotion prior to his stint on TUF. He has a record of 14-2 in MMA. He has lost to the division champion Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori at light heavyweight after failing to make catchweight.
The former welterweight champion Johny Hendricks, the recently retired Uriah Hall, and longtime middleweight contender Yoel Romero are just a few of the opponents Costa faced and defeated in the cage.