UFC Rumor Mill: Paulo Costa and Yoel Romero no longer set for the first UFC Card on ESPN+

What's the story?

Paulo Costa and Yoel Romero are no longer set to headline the first UFC card on ESPN+.

The bout between the two middleweights was originally set for the UFC 230 show in Madison Square Garden, but Romero was forced off the card due to not being medically cleared to compete.

The bout against Paulo Costa was rescheduled to headline UFC’s first fight night on ESPN+.

In case you didn't know...

The “Soldier of God” Yoel Romero last fought at UFC 225, where he took Robert Whittaker to the limit, but ultimately lost in a thrilling bout that earned fight of the night.

Yoel Romero's last win was against Luke Rockhold back at UFC 221, which was somewhat a controversial bout due to Romero being 2.7 pounds over the weight limit. Romero was stripped of the chance at being the new Interim UFC Middleweight Champion (Robert Whittaker was originally Rockhold's opponent), but got the victory via TKO in the third round.

Paulo Costa is currently a force to be reckoned with in the middleweight division. Costa is currently 12-0 as a professional fighter, with his last win against Uriah Hall at UFC 226.

The heart of the matter

This time, however, the bout between Romero and Costa is off due to the latter suffering an injury, which was confirmed by MMA Fighting following a report by ESPN.

Reports state that Costa won’t need any surgery for the undisclosed injury, but his wounds won’t heal in time for January.

What’s Next?

There’s no word on whether the UFC will give Romero a replacement opponent, but sources claim that the middleweight fighter is aiming to take on former middleweight champion, Anderson Silva, on the fight night card.

The Fight Night event is set for the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. The only other bouts that are official thus far are Paige VanZant vs. Rachael Ostovich and Belal Muhammad vs. Geoff Neal.