Report: Robert Whittaker vs Paulo Costa off of UFC 284

Robert Whittaker vs Paulo Costa won't go down at UFC 284.

By: Kristen King | 6 months ago
Report: Robert Whittaker vs Paulo Costa off of UFC 284
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Robert Whittaker vs Paulo Costa is off—according to Costa, it was never even on.

Brett Okamoto of ESPN reported Monday that Robert Whittaker vs Paulo Costa has officially been removed from UFC 284, the upcoming pay-per-view scheduled for Feb. 11 at RAC Arena in Perth. The report came after Costa took to Twitter to respond to Whittaker, who told ‘Submission Radio’ that he signed his contract, despite Costa not signing his yet.

“Guys sending me this,” wrote Costa. “I feel sad for Robert because the UFC didn’t tell him the truth lol, you don’t deserve this. Bro, sorry I won’t fight you in Perth. UFC posting this [Whittaker vs. Costa] just to sell tickets, you need to realize that. They didn’t pay me, I’m out! I’m not joking.”

Since the UFC announced the fight, ‘Borrachinha’ has said publicly that it was not official, as he and the promotion continued to negotiate a potential new deal. He has one fight left on his current contract, but has refused to sign anything without a significant increase in pay.

If his recent comments are anything to go by, it appears as though the negotiations are not heading in the right direction.

“Great fights is going down due to lack of negotiation skills,” wrote Costa. “They should stop being petty. I wasn’t bluffing.

“I think they’re taking it the wrong way, making fighters unhappy with deals isn’t very smart,” wrote Costa. “It’s not only me, I remember: [Francis] Ngannou, [Sean] O’Malley, Mark Hunt, etc.”

Okamoto also reported that with Robert Whittaker vs Paulo Costa cancelled, Whittaker might not remain on UFC 284.

Costa was entering the bout off a ‘Fight of the Night’ awarded appearance at UFC 278 in August. He defeated former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold by unanimous decision.

Whittaker returned to the win column with a unanimous decision over Marvin Vettori in his most recent appearance. Prior to that, the ‘Reaper’ fell short to Israel Adesanya again.

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About the author
Kristen King
Kristen King

Kristen King is a writer for Bloody Elbow. She has covered combat sports since 2016, getting her start with outlets such as FanSided, MyMMANews and MMA-Prospects. She joined the BE team in 2020, covering a mix of news, events and injuries. In her time with BE, Kristen has created ‘Fright of the Night,’ a series that highlights some of the worst injuries in the sport.

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