Paulo Costa‘s manager and girlfriend, Tamara Alves, has stated that they are waiting for the UFC to confirm a fight with former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker, denying claims that Costa is avoiding the fight.
Paulo Costa is itching for a fight. He’s waiting on the UFC to give the go-ahead for a match with ex-middleweight champ Robert Whittaker. His girlfriend and manager, Tamara Alves, spilled the beans.
Alves had a chat with MMA Fighting. She was responding to Whittaker’s rep’s claim that Costa was nowhere to be found for a potential UFC 299 fight on March 9.
“We’ve been asking for the Paulo-Whittaker fight for weeks,” Alves texted.
Whittaker’s rep, Titus Day, had a different story. He told Fox Sports Australia that Costa had “vanished” and was “just playing f****** games again.” As a result, Whittaker was eyeing a potential match with ex-welterweight champ Kamaru Usman at UFC 300 later this year.
Alves wasn’t having any of it. She hit back at Day’s take on the fight negotiations. According to her, the delay was all on the UFC.
“Paulo playing games? I don’t know what Day’s intention was in saying that,” she wrote. “If he wants, he can call me. We can talk about what’s really going on without telling lies and assumptions about any athlete.”
Alves clarified that a bout agreement hasn’t been signed yet. The UFC is still figuring out a date for the fight. But she added, “the deal is done on our side.”
“We’re just waiting for the company answer,” she wrote. “UFC 299 on March 9th in Miami is perfect for Paulo. We’ve already expressed our desire for this date. This will be an exciting fight for the fans!”
Costa had to pull out from a UFC 294 fight with Khamzat Chimaev because of a staph infection that landed him in the hospital. He was last seen in the octagon at UFC 278 in August 2022. He outpointed ex-champ Luke Rockhold to snap a two-fight losing streak that included a failed bid for the UFC middleweight title.
Whittaker last fought at UFC 290. He was stopped by No. 1 contender Dricus Du Plessis. The loss dashed his immediate hopes at getting another title shot after a second loss to now-former champ Israel Adesanya at UFC 271. But Adesanya’s loss to current champ Sean Strickland improved Whittaker’s chances of getting back in the title picture.
UFC 299 is expected to be headlined by a bantamweight title fight. The match is between champ Sean O’Malley and Chito Vera, who defeated O’Malley in 2020 before “Sugar” later captured the belt.