Paulo Costa's potential replacement lined up, Charles Oliveira apologizes to UFC fans, Sean Strickland says former champ has mental problems: MMA News Roundup

Welcome to Sportskeeda's daily MMA News Roundup, where we present the biggest UFC news updates and other stories from the world of mixed martial arts.

In today's issue, we will discuss Paulo Costa's potential UFC 294 replacement after reports he may be forced to withdraw, as well as Charles Oliveira's statement following freak injury to rule him out of title bout. Elsewhere, Sean Strickland claims Israel Adesanya is suffering from mental health issues.

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#3. UFC middleweight posts cryptic message following Paulo Costa's potential withdrawal

MMA fans may have to wait to see Paulo Costa vs. Khamzat Chimaev after reports have surfaced that the Brazilian has been forced to withdraw from their UFC 294 bout.

'Borrachinha' recently revealed he underwent elbow surgery a number of weeks ago after contracting a bursitis infection, leaving him with multiple stitches in his arm.

He has since had the stitches removed and returned to full sparring, however, it's believed the promotions doctors aren't willing to sanction the fight.

Marvin Vettori is a name that has been thrown around as a replacement who was contacted, although it is believed 'The Italian Dream' declined the 11-day notice bout.

Despite the reported scramble to find a new opponent, the No.7 ranked 185'er Roman Dolidze appears to have thrown his name into the mix. He posted a cryptic message on X (formerly Twitter). It reads:

"Khamzat? #UFC294"

Roman Dolidze on X

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#2. Charles Oliveira addresses injury that rules him out of UFC 294

Charles Oliveira has officially withdrawn from his lightweight title bout against Islam Makhachev, after sustaining a freak injury whilst sparring.

The No.1 ranked lightweight suffered a deep laceration above his eyebrow, which required immediate stitches. The Brazilian shared the gruesome images on social media with a message of apology to his fans.

Nolan King of MMA Junkie shared the post and captioned the tweet:

"Charles Oliveira posted an Instagram story that includes pictures of the cut that forced him out of #UFC294 vs. Islam Makhachev. Nasty. Wishing Do Bronxs nothing but the best!"

In the images of the post, 'Do Bronx's message reads (translated to English):

"SORRY EVERYONE BUT GOD KNOWS ALL THINGS"

Nolan King's post on X

Alexander Volkanovski has been drafted in as the replacement for Oliveira on 11 days notice, pitting the Australian against Makhachev in a rematch of their epic UFC 284 bout.

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#1. Sean Strickland claims Israel Adesanya has 'mental' problems

Sean Strickland pulled off one of MMA's biggest upsets when he dismantled Israel Adesanya to win the middleweight title at UFC 293.

Ahead of their bout, both Strickland and Adesanya engaged in relentless back-and-forth trash talk, which eventually resulted in 'Tarzan' taking aim at 'The Last Stylebender's recently deceased dog, after a video had surfaced of Adesanya touching his dogs genitals.

Following his damning loss to Strickland, Adesanya approached the newly crowned middleweight champ in the cage and demanded an apology for the comments made towards his dog.

On the latest episode of his Man Dance Podcast, Strickland has now given his thoughts on the strange interaction. He said:

"He looks at me, and he's like, 'I would never make fun of your family, and I'm like, 'Izzy, I don't know your family, bro.'... This is after the fight...So, bottom line, Izzy, dude, I think the guy needs some help... Izzy, it's starting not to be funny anymore, cause as I'm starting to understand Izzy and his love of his dog...I'm starting to realize that, like, he could have some form of mental ret**dation, like there's something f**king wrong with this guy."

Catch the clip here: