Why was Paulo Costa arrested?
Paulo Costa allegedly elbowed a nurse in Belo Horizonte, Brazil while attempting to gain a proof-of-vaccine card without having the COVID-19 jab.
Costa claims that he was already vaccinated and that is why he wanted the card. However, he was still taken to a police station for further questioning surrounding the incident.
A municipal guard named Marco Mota stated:
"The card was filled out. The workers said that, at the time of application, he did not accept to be vaccinated, he wanted to leave with the card and they did not accept it. At that moment, a nurse was elbowed." [h/t Globo]
'The Eraser' didn't seem too worried by the incident, making an edit of Prison Break on his Instagram. The edited image included Jorge Masvidal, who is also currently undergoing legal issues.
In Costa's version of events, he didn't mention elbowing the nurse, but stated the was stressed due to not being given the vaccine card after receiving the immunization.
The Brazilian is scheduled to fight former UFC champion Luke Rockhold at UFC 278 on August 20.
Luke Rockhold states UFC monitoring Paulo Costa's weight
As mentioned, Paulo Costa is scheduled to meet Luke Rockhold in the octagon at UFC 278. The Brazilian's issues with making weight in his recent UFC fights are no secret.
However, the former champion has stated that the UFC will be monitoring Costa's weight on a weekly basis when speaking with The Schmo:
"There's no little insight, there's nothing to that. The UFC will be monitoring his weight weekly and we'll be dancing at a proper weight. If he can't make the weight, there will be a transition I'm sure at some point."
Watch Luke Rockhold speaking to The Schmo here:
Both fighters are currently on a two-fight losing streak, with Costa losing to Marvin Vettori and Israel Adesanya.
In Rockhold's last two bouts, he's fallen victim to Jan Błachowicz and Yoel Romero, both via knockout.
The Brazilian clearly struggles to make weight, having famously failed to get close to the middleweight limit for his fight against Vettori. This wasn't just costly in the octagon, but also cost Costa 20% of his fight purse.
Both fighters will be hoping that the Brazilian can stay in shape for the upcoming bout, otherwise, Costa may have another pay-cut to deal with, and perhaps a permanent switch to light heavyweight.