Paulo Costa says the "biggest mistake" of his career so far was signing a five year deal with the UFC - "So long for so little money, I didn't sign a smart deal"

Paulo Costa is nearing the end of the five-year contract he signed with the UFC in 2017. The Brazilian has one fight left on his current deal and his future looks unclear.

'Borrachinha' first appeared in the UFC against Garreth McLennan at UFC Fight Night 106. Paulo Costa won the fight via TKO and proceeded to win his next three UFC bouts via the same method. He has fought a top 5 ranked middleweight in his last 3 bouts. But, according to the Brazilian, his long-term contract meant that he was only paid the UFC minimum.

Costa was recently interviewed by Submission Radio and spoke about the mistake he made in signing a five-year deal with the UFC. He referred to the contract he signed in 2017 as the 'biggest mistake of his career':

"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."

Watch the interview below from 9:00:

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Paulo Costa claims that he hasn't been sent a contract to fight Robert Whittaker at UFC 284 yet

Paulo Costa was scheduled to take on former UFC champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 284 in February 2023. The fight was announced by both the UFC and 'The Reaper' on Instagram, and everything seemed to be set.

As per the UFC's Instagram account:

"G'DAY AUSTRALIA! @RobWhittakerMMA vs. @BorrachinhaMMA is the first fight officially confirmed for #UFC284 in Perth!"

See the post below:

However, in the same interview with Submission Radio, Paulo Costa declared that he was yet to receive a contract for the fight. But the Brazilian said that he would love to test his skills against Whittaker:

"I'd love to make that fight. It's one of my favorite fights to make. But I don't have any deal to do this fight, this is the bad part. I want to do this fight but I don't have a deal. The UFC didn't send me nothing, no contract, no offer yet. It's a weird situation." (1:20 onward)

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