'UFC needs to pay me as a main fighter' - Paulo Costa suggests that Jake Paul influenced his decision to withdraw from August main event

Paulo Costa is seeking a bigger payday from the UFC to compete in main event fights. The UFC middleweight was not convinced by the remuneration offered to him to fight Jared Cannonier, reportedly forcing him to withdraw from his upcoming fight.

Costa and Cannonier were set to lock horns on the August 21 card. The Brazilian fighter will now, once again, be replaced by Kelvin Gastelum. Gastelum previously fought in the UFC Vegas 24 main event in Costa's absence.

Earlier today, Paulo Costa noted on Twitter that the UFC should pay him more if they want him to fight in main events. He also suggested that the income of UFC fighters is so low that even YouTubers are criticizing the promotion, referring to Jake Paul's jab at Dana White yesterday.

"UFC needs to pay me as main fighter to have fighting in main events. Youtubers are showing all disgrace on this business," wrote Costa.

UFC needs to pay me as main fighter to have fighting in main events. Youtubers are showing all disgrace on this business.

— Paulo Costa ( Borrachinha ) (@BorrachinhaMMA) June 5, 2021

This comes a day after Jake Paul unleashed a verbal tirade against Dana White. He accused the UFC president of not rewarding his employees with fair pay. According to Paul, the fighters risk their lives for the sake of the company, and thus deserve to be better paid.

"I think that there’s a movement, moving forward, that is going to show that fighters should be getting paid more. It’s unfair that the UFC fighters don’t have fair pay. Out of all the sports, the percentage that the owners get versus the athletes, they (the UFC) are the lowest. Francis Ngannou vs. Jon Jones: that fight should happen. Dana White, pay them the 10 million. He’s taking their money," said Paul.

When did Paulo Costa last compete in the UFC?

UFC 241 Cormier v Miocic 2

Paulo Costa's last UFC fight was against Israel Adesanya at UFC 253 in September 2020. 'Borrachinha' lost the fight via TKO in the second round.

THERE ARE NO QUESTIONS. THERE ARE NO DEBATES.@Stylebender is the true king 🏆 #UFC253 pic.twitter.com/UGO1Bfdhli

— UFC (@ufc) September 27, 2020

Before that, he had challenged Yoel Romero in a barnburner contest at UFC 241. He won the fight and successfully established himself as the No.1 contender. Having made his UFC debut in March 2017, Paulo Costa has stepped inside the UFC octagon six times in the past four years. Currently, he is ranked No.2 in the middleweight division.

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