Sooner or later, one of two things will happen.
Either Paulo Costa will test positive for performance-enhancing drugs, or mixed martial arts (MMA) fans will have to accept that “Eraser” is just a Brazilian beefcake who’s thicc and swole because he works hard in the gym and has great genetics.
I’m sure it would help his cause if we could shed some light on his mysterious withdrawal from the UFC on ESPN 3 main event. Former opponent, Yoel Romero suggested it was related to doping, but Costa was quick to shoot that theory down.
“Increasing my luck daily, definitely my opponents will not be happy,” Costa wrote on Instagram after a hard workout. “Soon very good news and my next fight. Romero don’t know what fuck shit he says. I’m not using steroids, I’ve never doped like him.”
With Costa being removed from the Ft. Lauderdale fight card (see it here), Romero will instead rematch Ronaldo Souza in the five-round headliner. The winner could be in line for a crack at the winner of this fight, depending on the injury timeline of middleweight champion Robert Whittaker.
As for Costa (12-0), who’s never been to a decision in 12 trips to the cage, he stands at No. 7 in the official rankings but has yet to beat anyone in the Top 10 and only has four fights inside the Octagon. He’ll need to do something special his next time out if he wants to start talking about title shots.
Stay tuned.