Paulo Costa Says UFC Refused His Release Requests
Paulo Costa said he has asked the UFC for his release more than once, including in the past few days after UFC 332 was set without him. The No. 6 light heavyweight is on the last fight of his contract, and he says the promotion told him he still has to take that bout.
Costa, 35, last fought on April 11, stopping Azamat Murzakanov with a third-round head kick at UFC 327. He is 16-4 overall and 8-4 in the UFC. Five months later, he still has no opponent.
The latest request, he said, followed the news that UFC 332 on Oct. 3 in Salt Lake City would be headlined by Natalia Silva vs. Wang Cong for the vacant women’s flyweight title. Light heavyweight champion Carlos Ulberg is out with a torn ACL and has pointed toward 2027. Costa wanted an interim 205-pound belt on that card. The UFC said no.
So he asked to leave. “We already asked to get released, but they refused. They said, ‘No, you need to do one more.’”
Costa said that was not the first time. He also asked in January, when he says he was lined up for Reinier de Ridder and then watched someone else get the fight. He named UFC matchmakers Hunter Campbell and Mick Maynard as the people who told him he was staying.
He is not pretending this is a mystery. “They’re doing their business and I do mine.”
His business, as he describes it, is not another quiet three-rounder against a name that does not move the needle. He wants the kind of fight that sells.
“I’m looking for big fights. I’m looking for big names. I want to see a great fight, a big fight. I’m in this position right now to make the big fights, and I want to bring these exciting fights to the fans. That’s my goal right now.”
That is why the 332 snub stung. Costa has one win at light heavyweight. He is not the No. 1 contender. Magomed Ankalaev, Jiri Prochazka, and Alex Pereira all sit above him. He still saw a vacant main event and an injured champion and thought the UFC should make an interim title fight with him in it.
The company has a different view of a fighter with one bout left. Costa has said he has not been in talks on a new UFC deal. If he fights once more and walks, any belt he won would walk with him.
He has already laid out the terms he will accept. Five rounds only if there is a title or more money. Otherwise a three-round fight, then free agency.
He also said the UFC is willing to offer him three rounds and that he expects a name this week. Nothing has been announced.
The standoff is familiar. Costa sat out a long stretch earlier in the decade while a previous contract was negotiated. He is doing the public version of that again, only this time he is asking to be cut instead of paid to stay.
Ulberg’s injury left 205 pounds without a title fight for the rest of 2026. Costa wanted to fill that hole. The UFC booked women’s flyweight gold instead and told him to finish the deal he already signed.
He can still fight once and leave. He cannot leave first. That is the line the UFC drew, according to Costa, and it is why a ranked knockout artist is talking about release instead of a date.