Hyped UFC Fight Falls Apart Due to Failed Contract Negotiations: Report

Getty Paulo Costa

An electric middleweight match between Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa was on tap for UFC 284 in February, but the fight has fallen through due to failed negotiations featuring the latter and the promotion, according to a report from ESPN’s Brett Okamoto.

UFC 284 takes place in Perth, Australia, on February 11. The night is set to be scheduled by the lightweight title affair between champion Islam Makhachev and featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski. In the wake of Volkanovski’s absence in the division, the interim 145-pound championship will be on the line during the event’s co-headliner. Yair Rodriguez and Josh Emmett will battle for the belt.

The promotion’s return to the country was supposed to feature Australia’s Whittaker colliding with Costa in a featured main card bout. But, Okamoto reported that because “Borrachinha” and the UFC haven’t reached a deal, the 185-pound match has been scrapped.

“No troll job,” Okamoto wrote in an Instagram post on Monday. “Paulo Costa and Robert Whittaker will NOT fight at UFC 284 in February, per sources. Costa has said publicly he’s on the final fight of his deal and discussed a new contract with the UFC, but nothing’s been agreed to. In any event, he will not fight in Perth. Sources say that at the moment, Robert Whittaker will most likely move to a later date.”

Costa Tweeted That the Match Was ‘Going Down’ Because of the Contract Turmoil

Costa reacted to Okamoto’s report and seemingly confirmed the fight-canceling news. “Great fights is going down due to lack of negotiation skills, they should stop being petty,” Costa tweeted.

“I wasn’t bluffing,” the Brazilian continued.

Costa listed several UFC fighters, citing them as examples of fighters who took the promotion to task over their contracts. “I think they’re taking it the wrong way, making fighters unhappy with deals isn’t very smart,” Costa tweeted. “It’s not only ME, I remember: Nagnnu , OMalley , Mark hunt ect.”

Costa Said in November That the UFC Hadn’t Sent Him a Bout Agreement for the Whittaker Fight

For weeks, Costa had been hinting that the fight wouldn’t happen if he and the UFC didn’t reach a deal for a new contract. In an interview with Submission Radio last month, Costa explained that he liked the match-up with Whittaker, but he hadn’t even received a bout agreement from the promotion.

“This fight is one of my favorite fights that I wanted to make because I appreciate the fighter that Robert is,” Costa said. “He’s very good. Since I saw him fight, I thought, I want to fight this guy because he’s savage. You know, he put a lot of desire in his fights. So, it should be a great fight, and I’d love to make that fight. It’s one of my favorite fights to make, of course. But I don’t have any deal to do this fight. This is the bad part. I want to do this fight, but I don’t have a deal.

“UFC didn’t send me nothing — no contract, no offer yet. You know, It’s a weird situation. I don’t know what’s going on with UFC. Because you guys know, UFC used to publish some fights when the fight is close, when the deal is on.

“But it’s not in this case. They asked me about Robert, if I should fight him. I said, yes, of course. It’ll be a pleasure to fight him. But they didn’t send any offer to fight him yet.”

Further, Costa took to Twitter at the start of November and hinted that he’d transition to boxing after his “miserable contract” expired.