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Paulo Costa went to desperate measures to try and get fight clearance for UFC 248.
Top UFC middleweight contender Paulo Costa is currently sidelined with a bicep injury, but the Brazilian powerhouse is desperate to get back in the Octagon ASAP.
In fact, according to UFC president Dana White, ‘Borrachinha’ tried to get his friend to impersonate a UFC doctor to gain clearance to fight Israel Adesanya at UFC 248.
“I respect him. I respect the fact he wants to fight. ‘I’m ready, I’m ready,’ no you’re not. You’re not a doctor. And then he got some guy who’s his buddy or something to say he’s okay. No, that’s not how this works. I don’t want to push him and make him hurt himself again. Take your time, you’re getting the fight, that fight is gonna happen, don’t worry about it,” White said, per MMA Mania’s Jesse Holland.
Costa is still healing from injury and White is worried the 28-year-old’s current training regime will only make matters worse and possibly delay his UFC return.
“He’s close, but let’s take our time,” White said. “The more time the better with that injury. Then he starts throwing up videos of himself hitting the mitts and doing all kinds of crazy s*** that he probably shouldn’t be doing right now. But he’s a freak athlete too, so who knows. I just don’t want the guy to get hurt again.”
Although Costa isn’t cleared to fight this weekend, the Team Nogueira product will be in attendance to watch Adesanya defend his middleweight title against Yoel Romero, who Costa beat via unanimous decision back in August of last year.
UFC 248: Adesanya vs. Romero takes place this Saturday, March 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.