Paulo Costa publicly demands UFC book final fight, raise pay or release him

Paulo Costa has gone public with his UFC contract standoff, posting a direct ultimatum on X addressed to promotional executive Hunter Campbell and outlining three conditions under which he will fight out the final bout on his deal.

Costa, who holds a 16-4 professional record, says his current contract specifies a three-round purse for his last fight and accuses the UFC of stalling the matchup. Writing under his “Borrachinha” nickname, he made clear he is prepared to accept any light heavyweight opponent for that three-rounder, but will not take a five-round contest without additional compensation and adequate preparation time.

“OK, I’m making this public and clear: I have 1 fight left,” Costa wrote. “On my contract, the purse is set for 3 rounds, not 5. I’m asking for the 3-round fight that was already agreed on contract. It can be anyone on the UFC LHW roster. I think Hunter has 3 options now: A) Give me that last 3-round fight (I’ll take any opponent). B) Give me a 5-round fight at LHW against anyone in 6 weeks. I’ll take it, BUT raise my purse accordingly. That’s the minimum that’s fair, right? C) Release me from my contract now. Simple and clean.”

The Brazilian dated his post “9-18-26 Las Vegas, Nevada” — a reference that appears to point toward a potential fight date — and signed off formally, suggesting the message was intended as much for public record as for the UFC itself.

Costa arrives at this standoff on the back of consecutive finishes, having stopped Roman Kopylov and Azamat Murzakanov in his two most recent outings. He had previously lobbied for an interim title fight at UFC 332, but later disclosed the promotion showed no interest in that booking.

The public nature of the ultimatum raises the stakes for both sides. Costa’s willingness to accept a release as one of three valid outcomes signals that he is prepared to walk away from the promotion entirely if the dispute is not resolved on terms he considers fair.