Chael Sonnen claims it could be "deja vu" for the UFC if Paulo Costa refuses to fight Robert Whittaker

Chael Sonnen believes the UFC are suffering from "deja vu" in regards to booking Paulo Costa vs. Robert Whittaker.

In recent weeks, it was announced that Whittaker and Costa will be going head-to-head at UFC 284 next year. 'The Reaper' has regularly posted updates about the fight, including preparations for his fight camp.

According to 'Borrachinha', however, he has yet to agree to the bout. The Brazilian has one fight remaining on his current deal and has reportedly refused to fight Whittaker unless he is offered a new contract.

In a video uploaded to his YouTube channel, Chael Sonnen discussed the controversy. According to 'The American Gangster', this is a repeat of when the UFC tried to book the pair to fight in early 2021:

"Guys, deja vu. I'm going back in time, what a couple of years? An ABC show, it could be the biggest opportunity anybody in the sport has ever had. That includes Dana White... Appearing on ABC is a number one opportunity. Paulo Costa and Robert Whittaker were meant to headline this thing. Costa said no."

Sonnen continued:

"Costa came in and said, 'Not so fast. I'm not agreeing to these terms.' Whatever happened behind the scenes, we held the event with Max Holloway and Calvin Kattar headlining the event instead... Paulo Costa wasn't bluffing. He knew he was in a position of leverage as it had been announced."

Watch the video here:

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Paulo Costa believes signing his current UFC contract was a mistake

Paulo Costa has pulled no punches in regards to criticizing the UFC for his current contract. 'Borrachinha' signed the deal back in 2017 and has one fight remaining in it.

In three of his last four bouts, the Brazilian has fought fighters ranked in the middleweight's top-five and most recently faced off against former champ Luke Rockhold. Costa believes he has been paid the bare minimum in these fights compared to his opponents.

In a recent interview with Submission Radio, the 31-year-old explained that signing a five-year contract was the biggest mistake of his career and revealed that he's not planning on making the same mistake again:

"The biggest mistake of my career was signing that deal in 2017, so long for so little money. I didn't sign a smart deal. But it was partly my fault and partly the fault of my manager at that time. So I'm trying to fix that."

Catch the full interview here: