Paulo Costa Says Hunter Campbell Will Not Book Him a Fight
Paulo Costa said Hunter Campbell will not give him a standard three-round fight and has told him nobody is free until next year.
The ranked light heavyweight posted the complaint on X five months after knocking out Azamat Murzakanov at UFC 327.
“Its incredible CRAZY how Hunter won’t give me a regular, standard three-round fight; he insists on keeping it with me,” Costa wrote. “He saying nobody is available till, maybe next year. Can you believe on this bullsh*t? lol. If you’re an LHW in @ufc roaster and want to fight, let’s bring it to him.”
A reply from the account @bravesmma read, “F*ck Hunter.”
Costa answered with two thumbs-up emojis.
That is the public temperature. Costa wants a date. He is pointing at the UFC’s chief business officer as the reason he does not have one.
Costa is 16-4 after the Murzakanov stoppage on April 11 in Miami. The head kick ended a previously unbeaten record and moved him into the light heavyweight rankings.
He has said that win left him with one fight remaining on his UFC contract. He has also said he is open at 185, 205, or heavyweight.
Campbell’s reported answer, according to Costa, is wait.
Magomed Ankalaev is the most obvious name on that list. The former champion and current No. 1 contender posted Friday that Hunter and Mick Maynard had offered him Costa three or four times.
“I said yes every time,” Ankalaev wrote. “Three rounds, five rounds—I don’t care.”
Costa’s issue with that version is pay, not the opponent. In a separate post he said he will not work five rounds for three-round money.
“That would be stupid—it’s definitely stupid; anyone who does that is an idiot.”
He did tell Ankalaev the fight can happen in November or December if the UFC pays both men accordingly.
Those two threads sit next to each other. Costa says no light heavyweight is available. Ankalaev says he has already accepted the booking. Costa says the five-round ask is the problem.
He turned down a short-notice five-round date with Ankalaev in July after Khalil Rountree Jr. withdrew from Abu Dhabi. Costa called that offer the same purse, a 16-hour flight, and no extra title incentive.
Ankalaev then stopped Bogdan Guskov in the fifth round on July 25. Costa has not fought since April.
Carlos Ulberg is the champion after beating Jiri Prochazka on the same UFC 327 card Costa headlined in the co-main. The 205-pound picture has a titleholder, a No. 1 former champion, and a ranked knockout artist with no opponent on the calendar.
Costa’s Friday post invited any light heavyweight on the roster to take the booking to Campbell. The thumbs-up on “F*ck Hunter” made the target of that frustration obvious.
The UFC can still make Ankalaev vs. Costa before the year ends. Costa already named November or December. He also drew a hard line on the round count and the purse.
Until those numbers match, the Brazilian is doing the only thing left on a one-fight contract. He is posting, tagging the matchmaker, and asking the division to walk the offer into the office.