Paulo Costa Signs With Eddie Hearn Matchroom Agency
Paulo Costa has officially signed with Eddie Hearn, and he made the job description plain. Hearn is his manager. Hearn handles the sponsorships. The Brazilian is still a UFC fighter with one bout left on his contract, and he just put Dana White’s loudest rival on his payroll.
“Yes man, that was a great, great meeting with Eddie Hearn. He is a great guy,” Costa said. “I’m so excited. I think we’re gonna do great things together. Great things.”
He was asked what the paper actually covers. “The contract is for him to be my manager and handle my sponsorships. I have too much respect for what he’s doing. He’s a great guy.”
That is the whole deal in two sentences. It is not a boxing contract. It is not a Matchroom fight announcement. Costa left Tiki Ghosn and joined Matchroom Talent Agency as the third UFC name in Hearn’s MMA stable after heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall and welterweight Ian Machado Garry. Hearn gets the business. The UFC still has the last fight.
Costa (16-4, 8-4 UFC) is 35 and coming off a light heavyweight reset. He stopped Azamat Murzakanov with a head kick at 1:23 of round three at UFC 327 on April 11 in Miami, ending an undefeated record. He has asked the UFC for his release more than once. The most recent ask was days before the Hearn news. The answer was no. He has to fight at least once more.
The snub that pushed him was UFC 332. Carlos Ulberg is out with ACL surgery. Costa wanted an interim 205-pound title fight to headline Salt Lake City on Oct. 3. The UFC booked a vacant women’s flyweight title instead. Costa said he was offered a five-round fight with no opponent named and no belt, and that if they want him in a fight that makes no sense to him, they have to pay more.
Hearn walking into that mess is the story. White and Hearn have spent the year talking about each other in public, from Conor Benn’s jump to Zuffa Boxing to the stalled Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua talks. Costa said he is not putting himself in the middle of it.
He pointed at this weekend. Ryan Garcia is still with Oscar De La Hoya, and White is promoting Garcia vs Conor Benn anyway. Costa’s read is that the bosses can do business and still talk sh*t. He called them more professional than people think. That is his opinion. The octagon still belongs to White.
Costa also said Hearn is a super important person in the fight business, not only boxing, and that him coming into MMA is a great acquisition for the community. He talked about sending the email back and everything being set up. The quotes he put on the record are that the meeting was great, the contract is management and sponsorships, and they are going to do great things together.
What Hearn cannot do is force a title shot. Ulberg is the champion and he is injured. Jiri Prochazka has already waved off an interim idea involving Costa. Sean Strickland is a rematch Costa says he wants because he kicked the lead leg, hurt it, and then had no plan when Strickland switched southpaw. None of those fights are booked. The only official new fact is who answers the phone.
One fight left is leverage and a trap. Costa can squeeze a bigger purse or keep asking to leave. The UFC can sit him until he takes the unnamed five-rounder. Hearn’s job, as Costa described it, is the money around the fights and the brand. The fights still go through Las Vegas.
Saturday is Garcia-Benn, a White boxing card with a Golden Boy champion. Costa used that as proof that feuds do not always kill bookings. His own next booking does not exist yet. He has a new manager, a new sponsorship shop, and an old promotion that will not cut him loose. Great things, he said. First he has to get out of the last contracted night, or get paid enough to walk into it.