What Injury Did Paulo Costa Have? Why Did He Pull out of the UFC 294 Fight Against Khamzat Chimaev?

Injuries are a part of the fight business, sometimes these injuries are so severe that the fighters have to withdraw from the fights. Something similar happened during UFC 294. Paulo Costa and Khamzat Chimaev were supposed to fight each other but a sudden elbow injury followed by a staph infection dragged Costa out of the equation and Kamaru Usman stepped in to fill the shortcomings.

‘The Eraser’ got quite the criticism for withdrawing from the fight but the Brazilian was not in a condition to fight. Months passed and the fighter went on to face the former middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker UFC 298, which he lost. He is now scheduled to face Sean Strickland at UFC 302, but is the fighter really healed from the surgery? Was the infection so serious? Let us find out.

What happened to Paulo Costa’s arm?

Paulo Costa had surgery for ‘bursitis’ five weeks before his fight against Khamzat Chimaev. ‘ The Eraser’ was confident that he was fit enough to fight ‘Wolf’. Costa even landed in Abu Dhabi weeks before their scheduled fight to train for it. Regardless, as soon as he landed in Abu Dhabi, the doctors noticed something. His injury required immediate medical attention as it has turned into a staph infection.

Costa’s elbow has displayed noticeable swelling post-surgery, creating apprehension among fans about his alacrity for UFC 294. During an episode of  The MMA Hour, Costa explained that the doctors had stopped him from competing until further notice. “You need to stay with the stitches in your elbow for two weeks. So after two weeks we are going to remove them and then two weeks [Costa trains for the fight,]”

‘The Eraser’ further explained that he tried to hide the fact from the promotion but failed to do so “I even asked [the doctor] to not let the UFC know, but it was not possible so they report everything to the UFC. And I say thank you to the UFC for keeping me in this fight.”

Despite Costa’s reassurance, hi͏s explanation still leaves many questions unanswered. Two ͏weeks of training may not be sufficient, especially when ͏confronting one of UFC’s most promising prospects in recent memor͏y. Days after the announcement of his canceling the fight, Costa shared the actual pictures of his Staph infection.

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Costa shares horrid photos of his infection

Paulo Costa had a history of scrapped encounters. Fans were afraid that ‘The Eraser’ might cancel his face-off with Chimaev like he has backed off from fights before, and as expected, it got canceled. There was an insane buildup for their fight, and the cancellation sparked massive outrage among fans who were eagerly waiting for Chimaev to face off against Costa.

Costa promptly ͏issued an apology to his fans regarding ͏his withdrawal ͏from the UFC middleweight match. He clarified͏ that the decision ͏was beyond his control, attributi͏ng it to severe bursitis in his elbow. Following his recent surgery, his girlfriend and manager, Tamara Alves, posted a graphic photo. This move aimed to potentially address some ͏of the criticism aimed at Costa.

Months have passed since the incident and Costa now has to make sure that he stays active because he’s returning to action just a few months after fighting Robert Whittaker at UFC 298. Do you think Costa will finally get his long-awaited win at UFC 302?

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