The former Middleweight contender is speaking out against allegations that he elbowed a nurse in the mouth after attempting to steal a vaccination card.
Paulo Costa is speaking out regarding allegations that he elbowed a nurse who tried to stop him from taking a proof of vaccination card at a mall in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
According to the nurse, Costa attempted to steal a card stating that he was vaccinated, despite not getting vaccinated. When she chased after him to get the card back, he allegedly resisted and elbowed her in the face. For his part, Costa denied he assaulted the woman, and his management released a strongly-worded statement denying her claims.
Now, Costa is speaking out in a new video he posted to Instagram.
“A false accusation of physical aggression was leveled against me and I will show for you guys the facts, the proofs and you guys will know what I’m talking about,” Costa said. “I’m being accused of elbowing a women who is supposed to be a nurse on her face.
“I’m a professional MMA artist and you can imagine the damage my elbow may cause on an unprotected woman’s face?” he continued. “Something terrible to even imagine that. But, I’m here to say to everyone that never happened and I will show you guys why. I have proof of that.”
Costa included two photos he got from the police file on the case showing the nurse’s lip, both outer and inner. According to Costa, the lack of visible bruising proves there was no physical contact.
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Instagram / @BorrachinaMMA
“Okay, directly to the point, this photo has been taken by the officers at the police station just a few hours after the alleged incident,” he said. “Can you see? This is the supposed victim of my elbow. And more, we have photographs of the inside of her lips. This part is exactly where she points that I elbowed her which unquestionably shows she hasn’t been subjected to any form of physical violence. That’s impossible.”
Costa finished off the video with a not-so subtle suggestion that he’d sue the woman who claimed he hit her if she didn’t apologize.
“Any form of violence against women is unacceptable. As a result of misleading imputations simply serve to discredit and hide the actual battle against women’s violence. We know this kind of false allegation is very serious. So I really hope this woman decides to make her public apologies or else legal actions may be necessary, unfortunately.”
Costa was scheduled to fight Luke Rockhold at the UFC 276 pay-per-view (PPV) in July; however, some “pathetic” campaigning from Team Costa was successful in reportedly getting their 185-pound showdown moved to the promotion’s “Fight Night” card on Aug. 20, 2022.