Cringe! Even Paulo Costa Loathes UFC 297 Trash Talk

The trash talk between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis is certainly not the “darkest” we’ve seen before a major UFC title fight, but it’s clearly beginning to make a few people uncomfortable, including former middleweight title challenger Paulo Costa.

The Brazilian wants more creativity and less cringe.

“I think they are going too far,” Costa told The MMA Hour. “Talking about family is not necessary. They need to be more creative. If this is true feelings, it’s okay. Go there, be real. But if not, I think it’s too much. I feel cringe for these guys when they say something like that. I don’t feel comfortable.”

I can’t imagine why topics like child abuse and kissing coaches of the same sex would make anyone uncomfortable.

“I think they are not so interesting because of their skills. Maybe they are not so famous for their skills, but they are very good fighters,” Costa continued. “They are weird, different styles. Strickland is not a very orthodox MMA fighter, and Dricus either. They are kind of weird, I think. It will be kind of interesting. It will be more of a ‘bad feelings’ fight than a very skilled fight. I have no idea [who wins]. I have no f****** idea. Anything could happen.”

Anything could happen here, as well.

Strickland will defend his middleweight title against Du Plessis in the UFC 297 pay-per-view (PPV) main event this Sat. night (Jan. 20, 2024) at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. As for Costa, he’s booked to battle former champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 298 in Anaheim, and a victory could put “The Eraser” back into title contention.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 297 fight card right RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6:30 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPNN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 297: “Strickland vs. Du Plessis” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 297 fight card and ESPN+ lineup click here.