Paulo Costa Details Altercation with Fans at UFC 294

Paulo Costa was not able to make his scheduled bout with Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294, but he managed to get in a few punches on Saturday, nonetheless.

Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight contender Costa (14-2) got into a scuffle with more than one attendee during the promotion’s marquee event in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 21. “Borrachinha” was originally supposed to co-headline opposite the undefeated Chimaev, but was forced to withdraw the week before the event due to a staph infection in his elbow. Nevertheless, Costa was present cageside in Etihad Arena as his replacement, former welterweight king Kamaru Usman, lost a majority decision to Chimaev.

Well before the co-main event, during the undercard, Costa was involved in the altercation in question, which was caught on video by onlookers. He gave his account of the incident during an appearance on “The MMA Hour” on Tuesday.

“Almost, in the corner, to go to my seat, a guy called me, and when I came to him, he [shot the bird] in my face,” he said. “So, I looked to him and the security is pushing me, like, ‘Come on, Paulo. The next fight is coming. We need to clear the hallway for the next match.’ But I marked his face. I marked his face because I was pissed off. My will is to slap him in the face directly, but I couldn’t, so I marked his face.”

“I used the same hallway to go to the restroom and come back to my seat. So, I went to the restroom and then came back to look for him. I saw him but he wasn’t in the first row anymore, he was in the third row, so it made me more furious because he came to the first row just to shove his finger in my face. So disrespectful. [Laughs.] So, I was like, I need to discipline this guy before I go back to watch the fights, because my mind will stay on this guy. This guy is so audacious.”

“So, I come back, and I saw him in the third row and I say, ‘Brother, please, come here. I want to do something to you!’ He looked at me [with wide eyes] and then he starts to come. But there are a couple of them, like a Chechen gang I think. Maybe three or four, I don’t know. When he started to come down to me, somebody held him back, ‘Don’t go.’ Then I grabbed him, and when I grabbed him, another guy tried punching me. The security pulled me out and then the same guy that I was trying to drag out, he jumped at me! Right in front of me. I don’t know what he had in mind, but it was not a good idea for him, because once he jumped, he landed in security and his head was right in front of me. So even with my brand new arm, I could land. [Laughs.] That’s it. More guys tried to jump me, but I don’t know these guys and I don’t care.”

Security personnel intervened quickly and Costa eventually went about his night as usual. While “Borrachinha” was unable to make his walk to the Octagon this past weekend, the Brazilian is hoping to make a return sometime in December, according to a Monday social media post.