Strickland Explains Reason He Isn’t Fighting Costa

Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa are two of the more colorful personalities occupying the ranks of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) Middleweight elite. Both men are a part of a current three-way tie for the No. 4-ranked fighter in the division with Derek Brunson, therefore a bout between the two seemed like a logical next step.

Instead, Strickland is matched with rising striker Alex Pereira for his next time out at UFC 277 in July. So what exactly happened? Well, Strickland has his side of the story after several words have been exchanged on social media.

“Costa, just so you know, just so you can stop running your f—king mouth, I watched you fight Marvin [Vettori], I would walk through you,” Strickland told The Schmo. “I called you out multiple times before anything. The UFC said ‘f—k no.’ Meaning, I’m gonna beat the s—t out of you, they don’t want me to fight you. That’s what happened, I will show you the messages of them saying no I can’t fight you.

“So Costa, go f—k yourself, and if I see you in Vegas and you want to run this s—t back, anytime you f—king want it, dude. Let’s f—king go, man. You don’t even have to make weight, you little p—y.”

Costa’s last fight came against the aforementioned Vettori in what was the Brazilian’s second consecutive loss. Planned to take place at Middleweight, the fight was changed to a 205-pound Light Heavyweight clash mid-fight week when Costa revealed he simply wasn’t going to make the limit. He suffered defeat via a unanimous decision.

As for Strickland, he continues to gain momentum with each performance as he rides a six-fight winning streak that was most recently extended when defeating Jack Hermansson in February.