"Apparently he didn't see his last fight" - Dana White shuts down Paulo Costa's demands for more money
Dana White does not see an immediate bright future for Paulo Costa in the UFC.
UFC middleweight Paulo Costa pulled out of the August 21 card seeking a bigger payday from the promotion. He was supposed to face Jared Cannonier, who will now take on Kelvin Gastelum instead
Citing his reasons for the withdrawal on social media, Paulo Costa wrote that the UFC needed to pay him as a 'main fighter', noting that YouTubers were disgracing the fight business and fighter pay. Costa also stated that he had never signed the contract before, and the UFC went ahead and announced the fight anyway.
Speaking at the UFC 263 post-fight press conference, Dana White made his stance clear on the matter once again. When asked about the future of Paulo Costa in the promotion, the UFC president pointed out that he should take a look at his last performance before asking for big paydays.
"Our relationship is fine. Apparently he said some nutty sh*t and I straightened it out. That's how I look at it... Sounds like he's gonna sit down and hang out for a while. He said: 'I wanted to be paid more because of what all the YouTube stars are making.' Apparently he didn't see his last fight," Dana White said.
In his previous outing, Paulo Costa was brutally knocked out in the second round by UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. 'Borrachinha' later revealed that he had competed in that fight partially hungover as he had drunk a full bottle of wine the night before to help himself sleep.
While Paulo Costa is fully aware that he made quite the blunder there, he is not allowed to forget it by fans and fellow fighters at any cost.
Dana White initially reacted to Paulo Costa's tweets suggesting that he should have started a YouTube channel if he wanted to get paid like YouTubers. Israel Adesanya said in a separate interview that the channel should be about wine tasting.
Dana White dismisses big payday rumors for Tyron Woodley
The UFC head was once again asked about the celebrity boxing scene, which Dana White has previously shown disdain for multiple times. When asked to comment on Tyron Woodley rumoredly making millions against Jake Paul, Dana White waved the possibility of it being true away.
"I have been hearing that bullsh*t... but that's how you hype up a fight too, you know what I mean? Tyron Woodley is 40-years old and he hasn't won a fight in three years in something that he's actually supposed to be good at. Now he's gonna go box. How do you sell that fight? Lots of other things, other than the sh*t that matters."