Costa Releases Statement After UFC 298 Loss

Costa was moments away from earning a KO win over Whittaker at UFC 298. Instead, he left Anaheim with a decision loss, his third defeat in four fights.

After a year and a half filled with false starts and fight cancellations, Paulo Costa finally stepped back into the cage at UFC 298 against Robert Whittaker. And while “Borrachinha” lost a competitive decision to “The Reaper” (check out the scorecards here), he did well enough to prove he still belonged at the top of the middleweight division.

In a new statement released on X (formerly Twitter), Costa discussed the loss and what he think went wrong for him in the cage.

“Yeah I’m not happy, these sort of feelings always sucks because I was so close!” Costa said. “So so so f—ing close! Almost. Everybody saw the very end of the first round. If I had a couple of seconds it would be different. But not only that! If I had pressured just a little bit more in the second and third round, connect more punch and kicks, it’d be different.”

“He did a very good job,” he continued. “Congrats Rob on your victory and you did a really nice job. I just feel I damaged him very well. Only jabs, but I should have connected more hands on him. Pressure a bit more. But that’s it. After 18 months out the cage, bro, I feel great. You guys make me feel great. Thanks for all the support, I love you so much. You guys treat me very, very well.”

“I feel in my prime. I don’t feel worse, but maybe a lack of competitive [instinct] inside the cage. My fight mindset was not accurate. I thought I was winning the third round but I wasn’t. So yeah, I will pressure more, but these are small details, I will fix all these details and be back and not make the same mistakes again.”

As for the future? Costa is hoping for a quick turnaround of about three months.

“I want to fight in May so I can fight in Saudi Arabia,” he said. “I’m very excited for the future. This year, guys, 2024, is the year for gold, I still believe in that. I will learn from it, I will face whoever I need to face, I will get my victories, and I’ll go for the belt, okay? This is my promise to you, I feel in my prime, I feel very well, in good shape. Better than ever. And this is the first fight of the year and I’ll be back very soon.”

The defeat drops Paulo Costa to 1-3 over his last four, but “Borrachinha” is currently sitting at No. 6 in the middleweight rankings and will still be in striking distance of the Top 5 once things are updated on Monday. Could he manage to rocket into No. 1 contendership in 2024 like he’s hoping? It’d take a pretty hectic schedule to make that happen.

Forget championship gold, we’d just be happy to see Costa in the cage three times this year.