WATCH: Paulo Costa gets involved in CR*ZY brawl with Abu Dhabi crowd at UFC 294 

Paulo Costa was involved in an altercation with a fan at the event. The Brazilian fighter was supposed to fight Khamzat Chimaev but had to withdraw due to injury.

WATCH: Paulo Costa gets involved in CR*ZY brawl with Abu Dhabi crowd at UFC 294 

Paulo Costa brawl at UFC 294 (Image via Imago, X/MMA Mania)

Paulo Costa was the original opponent of Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294. He was in the audience with his girlfriend, Tamara Alves, at UFC 294. Unfortunately, he got involved in a minor altercation with a fan from the crowd. Interstingly, when Costa was shown on the screen, it was met with boos from the pro-Chimaev crowd.

The video of a fan trying to attack Paulo Costa made the round on social media. The fan jumped out of the stand to attack Cotsa. However, he missed the punch and Costa was seen retaliating. The security personnel de-escalated the situation. It is interesting to note that Costa had an altercation with Khamzat Chimaev at the UFC PI in preluding the events of UFC 279.

YouTube video

Costa had to pull out of UFC 294 due to a staph infection he suffered on his operated elbow. With Khamzat Chimaev having an underwhelming performance against Usman, many are clamoring for the rebooking of Costa vs. Chimaev. However, Dana White had already confirmed the winner of Usman vs Chimaev getting the next title shot against Sean Strickland.

Paulo Costa last fought at UFC 278, where he defeated former UFC champion Luke Rockhold via unanimous decision. The fight was in Salt Lake City at a high elevation. The fight earned the Fight of the Night bonus as both fighters showed their blood and guts in the 3-round fight. Incidentally, Costa’s replacement at UFC 294, Kamaru Usman, lost his welterweight title against Leon Edwards in the main event of UFC 278.

Fans react to the altercation of Paulo Costa with a fan from the audience

Paulo Costa’s altercation with a man from the crowd did not go unnoticed on social media. Costa is no stranger to controversy; this was just another page in his controversial chapter. Costa initially played the role of a heel before his title fight against Israel Adesanya at UFC 253. However, after his loss to Adesanya, the MMA community witnessed the fun side of Costa, most notably his social media.

Paulo Costa
Paulo Costa (Image Courtesy – MMA News)

See what the fans had to say about Paulo Costa having an altercation at UFC 294.

https://twitter.com/JohnnyFurfaro/status/1715818235566620685
https://twitter.com/minougato/status/1715818630544257120

Paulo Costa was seen at UFC 294 with an injured elbow. The injury is not severe, according to Costa. Moreover, Conor McGregor on social media urged the UFC to rebook Costa vs. Chimaev to determine the real number one contender for the middleweight division.

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