UFC president Dana White said that Paulo Costa tried to use a fake doctor, in order to get medically cleared by the UFC to fight Israel Adesanya.
Costa has an unbeaten professional MMA record of 13-0, going 5-0 in the UFC with his last win being against UFC 248 headlining title challenger Yoel Romero.
Paulo Costa was initially scheduled to challenge Israel Adesanya for the UFC Middleweight Championship this weekend. The Brazilian suffered an injury, which unfortunately forced him withdraw from the bout.
In a media day interview during the lead-up to UFC 248, Dana White said the following about Paulo Costa:
“I respect him,” White said. “I respect the fact he wants to fight. ‘I’m ready, I’m ready,’ no you’re not. You’re not a doctor. And then he got some guy who’s his buddy or something to say he’s okay. No, that’s not how this works. I don’t want to push him and make him hurt himself again. Take your time, you’re getting the fight, that fight is gonna happen, don’t worry about it.”
“He’s close, but let’s take our time,” White continued, encouraging Costa to take his time. “The more time the better with that injury. Then he starts throwing up videos of himself hitting the mitts and doing all kinds of crazy s*** that he probably shouldn’t be doing right now. But he’s a freak athlete too, so who knows. I just don’t want the guy to get hurt again.”
Paulo Costa suffered a bicep injury, which he is currently recovering from. Dana White has basically guaranteed that Costa will receive a title shot upon his return, against whoever wins the belt at UFC 248. It seems that Costa is getting impatient and wants to get in the Octagon against “The Last Stylebender” – especially after the anger he expressed over Adesanya’s controversial comments involving the 9/11 terrorist attack.
This article first appeared on CLOSEDGUARDMEDIA.com on 5th March, 2020.
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