Paulo Costa gets backlash for asking highly controversial "N pass" question to Elon Musk-made X AI Grok

Paulo Costa put forth a polarizing question to Elon Musk-made X-connected AI Grok, which, in turn, seemingly caused quite a stir on social media. Costa's question saw him make a reference to the "N pass" -- soon eliciting considerable backlash from netizens.

Former UFC middleweight title challenger Costa has long been regarded as one of the most polarizing personalities on the MMA organization's roster. His detractors have often criticized him for making allegedly discriminatory socio-political assertions. On the contrary, his supporters argue that the veteran Brazilian fighter's sense of humor entails making controversial assertions.

In his recent post on X, Paulo Costa asked the Musk-founded Grok, an AI chatbot that's linked with his social media platform X, about whether he's allowed to use a certain term. For context, the term/word in question is primarily considered a racist slur. Costa wrote:

"Hey @grok based on popular outcry from my beloved followers and my historical context do I have the N pass? Can I say Ni***r freely over here, right? Tell em Grok!"

Fans weighed in on Paulo Costa's X post, with many lambasting him for the same. One X user appeared to jestingly suggest that Costa's 'Secret Juice' might be influencing him and caused the MMA fighter to make the aforementioned post:

"Someone take away Costa's phone ... The secret juice ... kicking in"

Another X user seemed to speculate about whether Costa was intentionally making such comments to get himself released from the UFC by the organization's CEO Dana White:

"Paulo is like please release me dana"

A commenter sounded off on Costa for his supposed eagerness to use the word:

"Why do you want to say that word so badly? You're a childish fool."

One observer alluded to combat sports megastar Conor McGregor's recent X post that reportedly contained a racist slur:

"Costa is actually much worse than McGregor. He just hasn't hit that level of fame for yall to realize aha. Needs some Ws."

Moreover, one netizen jibed at 'Borrachinha,' suggesting that he's suffered multiple defeats because he spends too much time on X:

"See Paulo, this is why you can't win a fight, too much time on X."

Check out the screenshots of a few reactions below:

Screenshots of tweets (Image courtesy: @BorrachinhaMMA on X)

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Paulo Costa recently made an X post with a similarly polarizing assertion

Paulo Costa's most recent octagon appearance witnessed him suffer a split decision defeat against former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland in June 2024. 'Borrachinha' is currently 1-4 in his past five fights, with his last victory coming against former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold back in 2022.

There's been significant speculation about what the future could hold for Paulo Costa and whether or not he'd be able to reestablish himself as a title contender at 185 pounds. In February 2025, Costa made an allusion on X that he'd rather not fight fellow veteran middleweight Jared Cannonier next.

Nevertheless, apparently setting his sights on rising middleweight star Bo Nickal, Costa seemed to misspell Nickal's name. He tweeted:

"Is Bo Ni*gal avaible?"