Paulo Costa explains why he has not gotten vaccinated yet

Ahead of his main event fight at UFC Vegas 41, UFC middleweight contender Paulo Costa explained why he has not gotten vaccinated yet.

Costa takes on Marvin Vettori in the headliner of Saturday’s UFC Vegas 41 card. Ahead of the event, Costa spoke to the media, and one of the questions he was asked about is his thoughts on the new policy that means UFC fighters will have to be vaccinated to fight in the United States. When asked if he would be getting the COVID-19 vaccine, Costa said that isn’t on the table for him right now. According to Costa, since he already got COVID-19 twice, he believes that right now he doesn’t need to get the vaccine, and therefore, he won’t be able to fight in the United States anytime soon. While Costa admits he might have to eventually get the vaccine, at this current, time, he has no plans of getting it.

“I got COVID twice, so I’m not gonna, I’m not willing to take the vaccine. It’s an unnecessary risk for my body. I’m healthy, I’m young, I have an athletic body. If I’ve got to take (the vaccine) to fight somewhere, it’s case to case, so I’m gonna think about it when I have the opportunity,” Costa said (h/t MMANews).

There will be many UFC fighters in the same situation as Costa in that they are unvaccinated and will be unable to get into the United States to fight. In that case, it’s possible that the UFC could start running more events on Fight Island, where the fighters will not be required to be vaccinated. But for those who want to fight in the U.S. starting next month when the new rules go into place, then they will have to get the jab.

What do you think about the explanation Paulo Costa gave about why he doesn’t want to take the COVID-19 vaccine?