Luke Rockhold is itching to get his hands on Paulo Costa.
Currently set to lock horns on July 30 at UFC 277 in Dallas, Tex., the former Middleweight champion isn’t so sure his dance partner will be willing to show up. According to Rockhold, Costa has requested they push things back a couple of weeks.
“Paulo Costa is pathetic and the kid needs to sign the contract and agree to the weight, agree to the fight, agree to the date, agree to the dance and [blows kiss] let’s go,” Rockhold told The Schmo. “This b—ch is trying to move it to f—king August. I’m sick and I’m tired of just f—king… this s—t. But I really want to beat that f—ker’s ass so we’re going to August it is.
“Paulo Costa was already made a b—ch by Is[rael Adesanya] and we’re gonna make him a b—ch times two,” he added. “That’s all that matters.”
In the case that Costa is unable to compete for whatever reason, Rockhold isn’t sure what he’d do next as he believes it to be the only logical fight for him at the moment. Another area of concern comes in the weight department after Costa’s last bout with Marvin Vettori in Oct. 2021.
Once he arrived for fight week, Costa let it be known he wasn’t going to be able to make the 186-pound Middleweight limit. Therefore, the contest was changed last minute to a 205-pound Light Heavyweight affair. Costa still went on to lose by unanimous decision (watch highlights) and after the fight declared a torn bicep as his reasoning for the weight struggles.
“There’s nothing to that,” Rockhold said of weight worries with Costa. “A little insight, the UFC will be monitoring his weight weekly and we’ll be dancing at a proper weight. If he can’t make the weight, there will be a transition I’m sure at some point.”
Rockhold last fought in July 2019 when suffering a second-round knockout loss in his Light Heavyweight debut against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 239.