Paulo Costa has a huge update for MMA fans. The Brazilian superstar had to pull out of his UFC 294 co-main event against Khamzat Chimaev a few weeks ago due to an injury. However, we now have an update about his recovery. And its good news for fans who want to see him back in action soon.
READ ALSO: UFC Veteran Criticizes Paulo Costa for Withdrawing From Over 4 Matches, Including UFC 294
Costa is slowly gaining a reputation for pulling out of fights. The Brazilian has pulled out of contests against Robert Whittaker, Ikram Aliskerov, and Khamzat Chimaev. And while the others were disagreements with the UFC on his contract, this time, Costa reportedly suffered an injury.
Paulo Costa Discloses Progress in Recovery From Severe Elbow Injury – Who Will He Fight Next?
Paulo Costa gives timely injury update ahead of possible return
According to reports, the UFC did not allow Costa to compete against Chimaev at UFC 294 after seeing the infection on his recently operated elbow. And although he faced some criticism for pulling out yet again, the Brazilian shared photos of the infection to defend himself. And the gruesome images showed just how bad it was.
However, he has now taken to social media platform X to show his progress from the injury. ‘The Eraser’ shared a video of him hitting the heavy bag. He captioned it with, “My brothers asking how about my elbow. He is better than ever, staphylococcus can’t stop me to get stronger&jacket.”
And from the sound of the punches, the way he was moving, and the speed of his shots, it looks like Paulo Costa’s claims of his elbow being better than before are true. However, the Brazilian now finds himself in an awkward position of not having an opponent that makes sense.
Sean Strickland shook up the middleweight division with his title win. He will now take on Dricus Du Plessis for the title. The two next-best fighters, Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker, could face each other in a title eliminator. Jared Cannonier and Roman Dolidze could face each other next. And Costa has already beaten Marvin Vettori.
Therefore, his best bet is to wait for Chimaev to recover and re-book that fight. His only other option is to fight someone below him in the ranking.
What do you make of this training video from Paulo Costa? Who do you think he should fight next?