Paulo Costa wasn’t about to hold his tongue on Marvin Vettori’s recent dig.
Vettori fell short in his bid for the UFC Middleweight Championship. He challenged Israel Adesanya for the 185-pound gold in the main event of UFC 263 inside the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona. Vettori was trying to avenge his 2018 split decision loss to “The Last Stylebender.” In the rematch, Vettori suffered a unanimous decision defeat.
After suffering his loss to Adesanya, Vettori spoke to BT Sport. When asked who he’d like to fight next, the Italian bruiser took aim at Costa.
“I would like to really destroy this drunk guy who can’t even stay off drinking. It’s ‘Borrachinha.’”
Costa is well aware of Vettori’s comments and he has fired back on his Twitter account.
“I could fight this moron if he shows to fight like that.”
Costa was expected to take on Jared Cannonier in August. “Borrachinha” ended up being replaced by Kelvin Gastelum. Costa blamed his removal from the bout on a financial disagreement. Costa expressed his dismay over the fact that YouTubers Jake and Logan Paul made more than him for boxing.
UFC President Dana White doesn’t feel Costa is in a position to demand a significant boost in pay.
“Guess what? You should’ve started a YouTube channel when you were f*cking 13 years old and built your name and everything else and you could’ve had the fight on [Sunday] night. You’re not a f*cking YouTuber, you’re a fighter and this is what you do for a living. Or you don’t, it’s up to you. And you’re in no position to be talking about crazy money after your last performance.”
That last performance White refers to is Costa’s outing against Adesanya back in September 2020. Costa suffered a second-round TKO loss in the first defeat of his pro MMA career.