Paulo Costa Confirms Signing Impending UFC 302 Fight Contract Amidst Sean Strickland’s Pullout Speculation

UFC 302 will feature Islam Makhachev taking on Dustin Poirier for the title. While this is a big main event fight with serious consequences for both fighters and the organization, the co-main event between Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa is not a done deal yet. Or at least that’s what Strickland thought till Costa pulled out the receipts.

Middleweights Paulo Costa and Sean Strickland were supposed to face each other in a five-round co-main event at UFC 302. However, ‘Tarzan’ recently released a video on his Twitter account sharing some concerning information.

In the video, he stated that Costa had not signed the fight contract yet and abused him for not being a real man and suggested that he would be more than happy to help him talk to a therapist.

Strickland also suggested that since the event was fast approaching, he did not have time to waste on Costa. The former champion stated that he would want to find a replacement as soon as possible if ‘Borrachinha’ did not sign on the dotted line.

Needless to say, Paulo Costa did not take Strickland’s claims lightly. He shared an animated picture of a UFC contract signed by ‘Paulito Costa’.

“It’s Signed @stricklandmma I never disappoint mtfk el Pueblo depende de mi.”

 

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A post shared by Paulo Costa (@borrachinhamma)

So, it would appear, Strickland and Costa are fighting now. Since both men campaigned for the fight themselves, it is hard to imagine that a deal might not get done. So whatever the confusion was, it was probably a lack of communication.

\Perhaps, Dana White needs a better Human Resources guy to send in mails with updates on potential fights. Regardless, now that the fight seems to be coming, lets take a look at how these two mad men stack up against each other.

A closer look at Sean Strickland vs Paulo Costa

Both men are of the same height. However, Strickland will have a four-inch reach advantage over his competitor.

Yeah, he’s got long hands. Why do you think he gets called Tarzan; the hairstyle?

Stylistically, both Strickland and Costa are predominantly strikers first. Costa, however, has better one punch knockout power that he has displayed time and time again.

Is costa out? pic.twitter.com/ImSS63WcGj

— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA) May 15, 2024

In all likelihood, the fight between the two men will remain on the feet. Strickland is known for his exceptional defence skills which he displayed well against Adesanya. He has a very peculiar stance and defensive technique, which is not a lot to look at but makes it extremely difficult to find angles to hit him at.

Another factor to take into consideration is that the fight will be 5-rounds. Costa has gone the distance only once in his MMA career so far and he had lost that fight. Strickland however, has a never ending gas tank and will have no problems going the full distance.