Paulo Costa has a new slogan, a deleted tweet, and the same old problem: he wants the UFC to pay him like a headliner while his contract says three rounds.
“Pay for 3, get 5.”
In a now-deleted X post, "Borrachinha" answered a fan asking what offers the UFC has actually made him. His answer was a list: "5 rounds in Doha. 5 rounds in Abu Dhabi on 6 days' notice. 5 rounds in Salt Lake City." Then the kicker: "PAY FOR 3, GET 5."
Costa's math is the heart of his standoff with Dana White and Hunter Campbell. He says he has one fight left on his deal and wants one of three things: a three-round fight at his contracted purse, a pay bump commensurate with a 25-minute main event, or a straight release. His contract pays for three rounds; every offer on the table has been for five.
White fired back after the Contender Series: "He's been offered fights and turned them down," the UFC CEO said, adding that fighters are routinely offered three fights a year. But White's answer didn't engage Costa's actual point — this was never a dispute about whether offers arrived. It's about what the offers ask him to do for the money.
Costa, 35, is 16-4 overall and 8-4 in the UFC, now competing at light heavyweight after beating Azamat Murzakanov in April. This is a new chapter of a long-running saga — earlier this summer he pushed for an interim title shot while champion Carlos Ulberg recovered from knee surgery, a request that went nowhere, and former champion Magomed Ankalaev publicly volunteered to face him. Costa has also aligned with Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Talent Agency, a signal his ambitions extend beyond the Octagon.
White, for his part, shows no urgency to bend. And so the standoff continues: one fight left, no fight booked, and a contender negotiating his future in public — one deleted tweet at a time.
