Paulo Costa tried to keep elbow injury a secret from the UFC; gives detailed post-surgery update and fight status

Three weeks ago, Paulo Costa underwent surgery on his right elbow to treat a bursitis infection, just five weeks ahead of his highly anticipated fight against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294 on October 21. While many thought the Brazilian would be forced to pull out of the fight, 'Borrachinha' recently revealed that he fully intends on showing up and even tried to hide his injury from the UFC.

Earlier today, Costa took to social media to share some gnarly pictures of his elbow injury and revealed that he needed ten stitches post-surgery to fix the damage. He also claimed that despite the injury and surgery, he didn't stop training and continued his sparring sans his right hand.

In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Paulo Costa confirmed that he will show up at UFC 294 to fight Khamzat Chimaev. After Helwani asked him about it, he replied:

"Yes. Definitely yes, definitely yes."

Costa also shared some crucial details of his surgery and revealed how he tried to convince the doctors not to tell the UFC about the severity of his injury. He said:

"When the doctor told me it was necessary to open [up my elbow], I was with my team... I even asked [the doctor] not to let the UFC know, but that was not possible, so they reported everything to the UFC... I took 10 days off in Brazil, and here 14 more days before and after surgery. So they’re [UFC] a little bit worried about my health. But I’m sparring, I’m doing everything.”

Catch Costa's comments below (1:16):

---

Paulo Costa confident about defeating Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294

In the same interview, Paulo Costa expressed his confidence about getting his hand raised against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294.

Chimaev is widely considered among the most dangerous submission artists in the UFC, and the Chechen-born Swede is currently undefeated as a professional fighter. 6-0 in the promotion, 'Borz' is highly touted as a future champion. However, that doesn't faze Costa in the least.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani, Paulo Costa downplayed any speculations about him being negatively affected by his elbow surgery and vowed to do whatever was needed to win:

"I truly believe 100 times, I can beat him like 99 percent. I have all the tools to beat this motherf*****. He’s a wrestler... He has big head, long arms, slim body. He will do nothing against me. I will defend his first takedown, and I’m going to knock him out... I did surgery, but it doesn’t [matter], I’m going to be there anyway." (h/t mmafighting.com)