Sean Strickland sounded off on Paulo Costa ahead of their fight on Saturday night.
Nearly five months after surrendering the middleweight world title to reigning champ Dricus Du Plessis, Strickland returns to the Octagon for a high-stakes scrap with the secret juice-chugging contender at UFC 302 in Newark, New Jersey.
Ahead of their highly anticipated co-main event, Strickland and Costa traded verbal jabs on stage inside the Prudential Center during the UFC 302 pre-fight press event. As expected, ‘Tarzan’ delivered an expletive-filled rant directed at his opponent that got fans in The Garden State riled up and ready to see the blood fly.
Sean Strickland: “I’m gonna f***ing beat your f***ing d*ck into the f***ing dirt. But don’t worry I ain’t gonna f*** you like Izzy did.”
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) May 30, 2024
Sean Strickland: “I’m gonna f***ing beat your f***ing d*ck into the f***ing dirt. But don’t worry I ain’t gonna f*** you like Izzy did.” 
“I don’t know how much f*cking secret juice Paulo has, but the only shot you’ve got, you better hope to get f*cking lucky,” Strickland said. “You better hope that God’s in your favor because I’m gonna f*cking beat your d*ck into the f*cking dirt, but don’t worry. I ain’t gonna f*ck you like Izzy did.”
Sean Strickland is the odds-on favorite to leave with a win at UFC 302
After delivering a career-defining performance against Israel Adesanya last September to claim the 185-pound crown, Strickland’s title reign came to a crashing halt at the beginning of the new year. With a win over Paulo Costa, ‘Tarzan’ could very well earn himself an opportunity to reclaim the middleweight strap, as soon as Dricus Du Plessis settles some outstanding business with ‘The Last Stylebender.’
Costa, on the other hand, is just hoping to keep his spot in the top 10 after coming up short against Robert Whittaker earlier this year.
‘The Eraser’ last fought his way to the winner’s circle with a unanimous decision victory over Luke Rockhold in August 2022. However, if you want to check out Costa’s last win over another active UFC fighter, you’ll be shocked to find that such a thing doesn’t exist. All six of his wins inside the Octagon have come against opponents who are no longer with the organization.
He’ll look to change that on June 1, but the sportsbooks are certainly not on his side. Currently, DraftKings has Strickland favored at greater-than-2-to-1 odds while Costa is sitting as a +210 underdog — meaning a $100 bet on Costa could net you $210, should he score the upset.
