Costa Undergoes Surgery, Out For The Year

UFC middleweight contender Paulo Costa has just one fight remaining on his current contract but it looks as though “The Eraser” won’t be completing it any time soon. The Brazilian recently went under the knife to repair damage suffered in his unanimous decision victory over Luke Rockhold at UFC 278 last weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah.

So what happened?

“I broke my hand in the fight,” Costa said on his YouTube channel. “I thought I had a bone injury or maybe ligaments, but what really happened was a fracture to the metacarpal bone. I hoped it wasn’t a fracture because then I would be able to come back to fighting again in 50 or 60 days and use all the conditioning and the whole camp I’ve done [for UFC 278]. I planned on fighting in 60 days but it won’t be possible. I’ll have to fight in December or January. We’ll have a UFC card in Rio [on January 21] so maybe it happens there. It’s up to the UFC.”

Costa won’t be able to spar for a minimum of eight weeks.

UFC President Dana White recently told reporters the schedule was full for the remainder of 2022. Besides, there’s no reason to shoehorn Costa into a December lineup when Brazil is just around the corner. The 31 year-old “Borrachinha” is a native of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, and would no doubt help the promotion sell tickets for UFC 283 in Rio.

We’ll find out (one way or the other) towards the end of the year.