“I Don’t Like the Idea” – Paulo Costa Reveals He Rejected Light Heavyweight Offer From the UFC Over Unfinished “Business” at 185

The tide seems to be turning in favor of UFC middleweight star Paulo Costa. Following his win against Luke Rockhold last year, Costa has been out of action. The middleweight had contract-related issues with the UFC owing to which has been inactive. However, the Brazilian powerhouse recently revealed that he had negotiated a much better contract with the UFC and was itching to fight again. Surprisingly, his latest revelation stated he turned down another lucrative offer from the UFC.

Costa was recently in the headlines for a short-notice fight against former light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz. News of a fight between the pair gained traction after the co-main event for UFC 288 fell through. Despite all the talks, the UFC could not make the fight for May 6 and instead went with Gilbert Burns vs. Belal Muhammad.

However, the Costa vs. Blachowicz conversation opened new doors for ‘Borrachinha’ as he revealed recently. Interestingly, he opted to close those doors for the time being.

Paulo Costa reveals light heavyweight offer from the UFC

In a recent chat with Ariel Helwani on ‘The MMA Hour’, Paulo Costa shed more light on the recent negotiations for a Jan Blachowicz fight. The 32-year-old added that there was an additional demand from the UFC during the negotiations for the fight.

He said, “I accept the fight [against Jan Blachowicz] but the UFC suggested [to] me, once I beat him I don’t come back to 185. ‘Once you beat Jan, you need to stay at 205 and hold your position because Jan is number three so…'”

He continued, “I told them ‘Guys, I have business to do, to finish, at 185. So I can’t go right now to 205. I can go later… but I don’t like the idea to stay still on 205, to not be able to come back and fight at 185. I have business to do.”

While Costa has fought at light heavyweight before (against Marvin Vettori in 2021), his rivals are all at middleweight. His focus currently seems to be on a middleweight showdown against Khamzat Chimaev that the UFC also seems keen on making.

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Costa is one of the more fan-favorite fighters in the 185 lbs division. However, a win against Blachowicz would have given him good prospects at 205 lbs as well.

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Do you think he made the right call choosing to stay at 185 lbs? Let us know in the comments.