Who will be Paulo Costa's next opponent?

After his loss at UFC 298, Paulo Costa, who returned to the cage at UFC 298 to fight Robert Whittaker, is looking for his next opportunity in the middleweight division, but who will be next to face “Borrachinha” in the octagon? Though Paulo Costa has shown his intentions to fight former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, it is yet to be confirmed by Kamaru Usman whether he wants the fight or not. As per his manager Ali Abdelaziz, the fight won’t be happening any time soon as Paulo Costa has a lot to prove till he gets a chance to fight Kamaru Usman.

Paulo Costa didn’t fight in 2023 as all the matchups got cancelled due to some or other reasons. His fight against undefeated Khamzat Chimaev in October 2023 was a big one, but unfortunately, just before 2 weeks, Paulo Costa had an elbow surgery, and the doctor declared him unfit to fight. Kamaru Usman accepted to fight against Khamzat on short notice, though the fight ended in Khamzat’s favor. Everyone praised Usman’s fighting skills as the “Nigerian Nightmare” went to the full three rounds with the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev and countered him well during the fight. Ali Abdelaziz, pointing out the inconsistency of Costa in his brief interaction with “The Schmo,” said this:.

“Paulo [Costa] is a good fighter, but this guy doesn’t fight, you know what I’m saying? How are you going to call out someone like Kamaru Usman, who fights on a week’s notice and 10-day notice and you fight every two years, right? You know, I don’t think he will get the privilege to fight someone like Kamaru Usman. “
Ali Abdelaziz said

Paulo Costa’s eagerness to fight can be seen, but who will step up to fight “Borrachinha” is yet to be seen.