Costa Tried To Dupe Dana With Brazilian Bro-Doctor

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

“I’m not a doctor, but I play one in Brazil.”

I remember back in grade school when I tried to get my friend to call the nurse and pose as my dad, forgetting that in order to sound like an adult, you must first hit puberty. That was my one and only lame attempt at playing hooky.

With that in mind, I can appreciate what Paulo Costa was trying to do when his buddy posed as some sort of medical professional in hopes of getting “The Eraser” cleared for his Octagon return. After all, someone has to pay for all those Jurassic jokes.

“I respect him,” White said during a recent media scrum. “I respect the fact he wants to fight. ‘I’m ready, I’m ready,’ no you’re not. You’re not a doctor. And then he got some guy who’s his buddy or something to say he’s okay. No, that’s not how this works. I don’t want to push him and make him hurt himself again. Take your time, you’re getting the fight, that fight is gonna happen, don’t worry about it.”

Costa, who is recovering from a bicep injury, was trying to get his hands on reigning middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, in the UFC 248 pay-per-view (PPV) main event, which takes place this Sat. night (March 7, 2020) inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“He’s close, but let’s take our time,” White continued. “The more time the better with that injury. Then he starts throwing up videos of himself hitting the mitts and doing all kinds of crazy shit that he probably shouldn’t be doing right now. But he’s a freak athlete too, so who knows. I just don’t want the guy to get hurt again.”

Filling in for “The Eraser” will be longtime middleweight contender, Yoel Romero, who lost a close decision to Costa at UFC 241 back in August. The Brazilian will no doubt be first in line to face the winner at some point later this year.