The infrequency with which Costa competes has not cost him much ground, if any, in the middleweight division, where he currently sits at No. 6 in the rankings, having snapped a two-fight skid with a unanimous decision win over former champ Luke Rockhold the last time he competed at UFC 278 in Salt Lake City.
Part of his absence has been due to balking at fight offers and opting to bide his time on the sidelines, waiting for something more pleasing to him. Part of this has been bad timing, as illnesses and injuries have scuttled more than a few matchups over the years, including his first scheduled pairing with Whittaker in 2021 and his appearance last fall at UFC 294.
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Despite not competing, Costa made it clear that he hasn’t been relaxing and resting on his laurels during his latest extended hiatus.
“It’s very hard,” he said of being out of action. “Sometimes you pass through bad moments, tough moments in your life — everybody, not just me — but what you can do? You just need to keep moving forward. When things go out of your control, what you can do is try to get back the control of that situation.
“I just tried to keep myself healthy. I didn’t get (overweight), kept focus on my diet, and a good mentality; good perspective for the future. I just kept grinding, improved as much as I could. I did a couple surgeries on my elbow — it’s good now — but I asked God, ‘Why?’ After all this, I think all these bad moments made me grow a lot.