The blockbuster fight between Paulo Costa and Robert Whittaker at UFC 284 has been canceled. According to Costa, he never agreed to that fight because of contract issues but the promotion decided to promote the fight anyway.
Costa previously teased a retirement from the promotion and hinted that he will debut in boxing. Moreover, ‘Borrachinha’ stated that despite being the No.6 ranked fighter in the middleweight division, he is still being given a salary equivalent to a beginner.
Recently he gave his verdict on the Whittaker bout and said: “I don’t have any deal with this fight. I want to do this fight but I don’t have a deal. UFC didn’t send me nothing, no contract. My payment is so low.”
“I have got the same payment since 2017. I have to fight the top 5 guys and I get money as a beginner, I have to fight I love MMA, but I cannot just fight for love.”
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Costa blamed the promotion for not giving him enough money. According to MMA Salaries, Costa earned $216,000 for his recent bout against Luke Rockhold at UFC 278. This includes a base salary of $65,000, an additional $65,000 as a win bonus, and $80,000 as a performance bonus.
Costa earned $126,000 for his fight with Marvin Vettori and got the biggest paycheck for his title fight against Israel Adesanya, which is a whopping $1,230,000 but lost both of the bouts. However, these numbers are not official and are just estimations.
Paulo Costa slams UFC for promoting “fake” Costa vs Whittaker fight
Paulo Costa claimed that the promotion didn’t even negotiate a deal with him for this upcoming bout. Despite that, the UFC promoted this fight. Costa believes the promotion was using the fighters to sell tickets for the event.
Recently Costa took to Twitter and talked about the situation. Costa wrote: “Great fights is going down due to lack of negotiation skills. They should stop being petty.”
Great fights is going down due to lack of negotiation skills, they should stop being petty 👍🥤 pic.twitter.com/uAfFLnTOdN
— Paulo Costa ( Borrachinha ) (@BorrachinhaMMA) December 19, 2022
Robert Whittaker also commented on this situation. ‘The Reaper’ posted a clip on his Twitter and said that the UFC offered Costa a new contract but he still didn’t take it.
Whittaker said, “The fight was canceled, it’s fallen apart. UFC tried everything in their power to get him to the fight. They gave him the new contract, from what I understand, to take the fight, and he still didn’t take the fight. The Perth fight is not happening. They’re looking to reschedule me March/April.”
Status Update #UFC284 #UFCPerth @ufc @UFC_AUSNZ pic.twitter.com/dPl4q2S8nj
— Robert Whittaker (@robwhittakermma) December 19, 2022
Whittaker said that the promotion is looking to reschedule a fight for him, but it is not clear yet who he will fight now. The UFC has yet to publicly announce the situation. On the other hand, Costa blamed the UFC for the cancelation of this bout and it is unclear if he will get a new contract now.
