Paulo Costa’s Team Refutes Sean Strickland’s Allegations of Stalling UFC 302 Bout

In April, the promotion
announced on the UFC 300 post-fight press convention that the
co-main attraction for the June 1 present in Newark, New Jersey, would
be a five-rounder between middleweights Sean
Strickland (28-6) and Paulo Costa
(14-3). Strickland posted on social
media on Wednesday expressing his considerations that the battle at

UFC 302 could be in jeopardy, or maybe was by no means signed in
the primary place.

The previous middleweight champ said,
“Nicely, g– d— Costa, I’ve heard you might have but to signal that
contract, and I’ll let you know what man, I didn’t f—ing consider it.
I didn’t assume you’d be appearing like a coward. I believed you’ll
man up, sack up, however as an alternative, you are appearing such as you received f—ing
ovaries.”

The antagonistic Strickland continued, “So I went onto Google, I
did the best factor, gave you the advantage of the doubt, I went on
to Google, and I seen one thing, man. After you fought [Israel
Adesanya], you went downhill. You went off that f—ing deep
finish, my man. I don’t know what occurred in that little f—ing pea
mind you might have. Do we have to get somebody so that you can speak to, my
man? Do we have to sit you down and have you ever speak about your
f—ing emotions? I feel remedy is for weak males, however let me inform
you one thing, dude, you’re being a weak f—ing man. If you cannot
sack up and make this s— occur, we’ll get somebody so that you can
speak to. Don’t disappoint me. Don’t disappoint the followers. Let me
make you f—ing bleed.”

Costa has gone 1-2 since his loss in opposition to Adesanya, along with his lone
victory a carefully contested determination over Luke
Rockhold. Within the meantime, “Borrachinha” has additionally gained
notoriety for pulling out of a number of bookings in opposition to Jared
Cannonier, Ikram
Aliskerov and Khamzat
Chimaev. In his most up-to-date outing, the Brazilian fell quick to
former champ Robert
Whittaker at
UFC 298 in February by determination.

Shortly after Strickland’s video submit got here out, Brazilian outlet
Super
Lutas carried out an interview with Costa’s spouse and supervisor,
Tamara Alves, concerning the matchup. She insisted that the middleweight
pairing has been signed by each fighters, though noting that they
simply obtained the contract.

“The contract arrived yesterday and was instantly signed,” Alves
assured.

In keeping with Alves, negotiations had been a bit trickier than anticipated,
and Costa and the UFC lastly got here to phrases. She additionally famous briefly
that Costa was already near the load restrict of 186 kilos,
indicating that Costa had been getting ready for the battle as if it was
already official.

“As supervisor, each battle provided I could get one thing higher for my
athlete,” Alves acknowledged. “We did a unique negotiation to that
battle, and as quickly as we got here to an settlement, the contract was
despatched and we signed it.”

The middleweight championship logjam—which nonetheless doesn’t have an
official first protection on the books for the newly minted Dricus Du
Plessis—means there are many choices for the division in
the long run. Alves had an thought of how she thinks the promotion will
play out the title image, just like UFC on Fox 4 in 2012 when
Mauricio
Rua and Lyoto
Machida competed in 205-pound tilts. She believes that essentially the most
spectacular victor amongst two main upcoming middleweight pairings
will get the following crack at gold.

“There are two choices. The winner of Whittaker and Chimaev or the
winner of Costa vs. Strickland. I consider the fighters that present a
higher efficiency will get the following title shot,” she
concluded.

Former beltholder Strickland is seeking to bounce again from his
break up determination loss in opposition to Dricus Du
Plessis at
UFC 297. If that battle falls by means of, the promotion has already
been provided a attainable substitute choice in Cannonier. “The Killa
Gorilla,” who already holds a 2022 win over Strickland through break up
determination, is at present booked to headline
UFC Louisville in opposition to Nassourdine
Imavov in June.