Paulo Costa attempts to clear the air after starting online tension between Tracy Cortez and Brian Ortega

Paulo Costa is attempting to clear the air after starting online tension between Tracy Cortez and Brian Ortega.

It all began last Friday night when Paulo Costa  (14-2 MMA) posted a picture of himself and the 29 year old UFC flyweight Tracy Cortez (10-1 MMA).

Cortez and Ortega were in a relationship, which ended earlier this year.

The photo of Costa and Cortez created a media and fan frenzy, ending in claims that Ortega, who fights in the featherweight division would move up multiple weight classes to get his hands on middleweight ‘Borrachinha’.

‘T-City’ (15-3 MMA), took to ‘Twitter‘ with the following message:

Everyone out here talking bout I fumbled. Y’all must not know the rules of the game. When you drop the ball on accident that’s a fumble , but when you throw it away on purpose. That’s called a complete pass . Top G shit!

— Brian Ortega (@BrianTcity) July 1, 2023

“Everyone out here talking bout I fumbled. Y’all must not know the rules of the game. When you drop the ball on accident that’s a fumble, but when you throw it away on purpose. That’s called a complete pass. Top Gs***!”

Cortez, noting Ortega’s tweet, and not wanting any ‘dirty laundry’ to be shared responded by saying:

https://twitter.com/tracycortezmma/status/1675294753049694208

“Let me just say that to this day, I’ve yet to say anything negative about you or bash your name! Don’t start throwing shade now, I’m blessed.”

And now, Costa is attempting to clear up any misunderstanding the picture caused and setting the record straight, tweeting:

https://twitter.com/borrachinhamma/status/1675513535349047297

“Good morning mtfks. I mean me and Tracy are just friends, nothing happened, we just took a selfie for a mutual friend. Stop bullying.”

There you have it, just friends, much ado about nothing.

Paulo Costa is currently preparing for his upcoming fight with Ikram Aliskerov (14-1 MMA) later this month, July 29th, at UFC 291 which takes place at the Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The 32-year-old Costa last fought and defeated Luke Rockhold by unanimous decision back in August of 2022 at UFC 278.

Aliskerov, 30, will be entering the cage having won all of his last 5 fights, most recently defeating Phil Hawes (12-5 MMA) in May of this year at UFC 288.

Do you believe Costa’s ‘just friends’ remark or do you think the picture warrants further scrutiny?

Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!