Sean Strickland is going to make Paulo Costa bleed.
On Saturday, June 1, Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey for a stacked night of fights headlined by a lightweight title clash between reigning champion Islam Makhachev and No. 4 ranked contender Dustin Poirier.
Also scheduled to go down that night is a high-stakes middleweight showdown between former titleholder Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa.
Initially, Costa claimed that Strickland had turned down the proposed fight which prompted ‘Tarzan’ to clarify that he didn’t turn down the fight — he turned down the UFC’s lowball offer to fight on seven weeks’ notice. That has since been resolved, resulting in the bout being officially announced by Dana White during the UFC 300 post-fight press conference.
Gearing up for their summertime scrap, Strickland sent his opponent a message on Instagram in an unsurprisingly Strickland-esque way.
Sean Strickland talks about his upcoming fight against Paulo Costa at #UFC302:
“I’m gonna make that dirty Brazilian bleed. And I’m gonna do it for Brazil, because Brazil doesn’t even like Costa.”
YT / @SStricklandMMA #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/NrBGDjBTq6
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) April 18, 2024
YT /
“You know, you guys, I like Costa. He’s a funny guy. He makes me laugh. He’s pro-free speech. I like that guy,” Strickland said in a video. “But I’m going to make that dirty Brazilian bleed. I’m going to do it for Brazil because Brazil doesn’t even like Costa. So, hey, Brazil, this is for you guys. Let’s get it done.”
Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa Looking to get back in the win column
UFC 302 will be Sean Strickland’s first fight since surrendering the 185-pound crown to current champ Dricus Du Plessis.
‘Tarzan’ lobbied hard for an immediate rematch with ‘Stillknocks,’ but with the promotion intent on booking DDP’s first title defense against two-time titleholder Israel Adesanya, Strickland will have to fight down in the rankings before bagging another shot at UFC gold.
Competing for the first time in a year and a half, Costa returned at UFC 288 for a fight with Robert Whittaker. ‘The Eraser’ came up short, suffering a unanimous decision defeat at the hands of ‘The Reaper.’
