What happened between Dana White and Paulo Costa?
Paulo Costa was expected to fight Jared Cannonier on August 21 but pulled out citing issues with fighter pay. 'The Eraser' also claimed that he never signed the contract for the main event bout. That's despite the promotion announcing it as official.
Paulo Costa also referred to the celebrity boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and Logan Paul, where both fighters were expected to cash in on eight-figure checks. He described the fact YouTube stars were making more money than him as a "disgrace."
After the announcement of his bout cancelation against Cannonier, Costa tweeted his side of the story.
Just to be clear. I never signed or locked up that contract. Why ufc announced this fight if didn’t signed? My question too
UFC needs to pay me as main fighter to have fighting in main events.
Youtubers are showing all disgrace on this business.
However, UFC president Dana White did not take too kindly to Costa's demands. According to White, Costa had signed a contract for his August fight against Cannonier.
The UFC boss also believed that Paulo Costa was in no position to compare himself with YouTube celebrities. Slamming Costa's demands for higher pay, Dana White told TSN:
"I don’t think that’s true. I think he did sign because we extended him. We extended his contract for turning down the fight. But listen, don’t fight. I have to offer you three fights a year, this is my situation with all these guys. I offer you three fights a year. He doesn’t have to fight. No problem, don’t fight. Guess what? You should have started a YouTube channel when you were f***ing 13 years old and built your name up and everything else and you could have had the fight on Saturday night. But you didn’t. You’re not a f***ing YouTuber, you’re a fighter, and this is what you do for a living. Or you don’t. It’s up to you. And you’re in no position to be talking about crazy money after your last performance. Okay? So you either want to fight or you don’t want to fight. No problem. You don’t want to fight, you can hang out and do whatever you want. When you’re ready, you let me know.”
Catch Dana White speaking on the Paulo Costa issue below:
Dana White on Paulo Costa's recent tweets: "You should've started a YouTube channel when you were f****** 13 years old and built your name up and everything else and you could have had the fight"
Full interview: tsn.ca/ufc/video/whit… https://t.co/i0VFy2QrzI
Paulo Costa may be in Dana White's bad books
Paulo Costa asked for a rise in pay after losing his title shot against Israel Adesanya at UFC 253. 'Borrachinha' seems to be taking no steps to get himself in a deserving position to justify the demand.
Paulo Costa also recently announced that he will not be able to make weight for his upcoming bout against Marvin Vettori. With 48 hours to go until the UFC vegas headliner, the two have verbally agreed to a catchweight bout.
However, Costa is likely to fall out of favor with Dana White yet again due to his latest display of unprofessionalism.
Per UFC officials, the plan is to move forward with Costa vs. Vettori at a catchweight. No specific weight to report just yet.