Paulo Costa leaves manager Wallid Ismail ahead of UFC 278 fight, now represented by his girlfriend

Paulo Costa has made some changes ahead of his UFC 278 fight.

Costa is set to return in the co-main event of UFC 278 against former middleweight champ Luke Rockhold. It’s a big fight for both men as they both look to get back into the title picture, yet ahead of the fight, the Brazilian dropped his longtime manager Wallid Ismail. He took to his YouTube channel to discuss his career and said he has nothing but good things to say about Ismail but decided a change was needed.

“I have nothing bad to say about Wallid. He is an honest person and very professional, I just have compliments about him,” Costa said (translation by Sherdog). “We just have different views about my career and, because of that, we decided to not work together anymore.”

According to Costa, he will now be represented by his girlfriend, Tamara Alves, with the move taking effect immediately. Costa dropping Ismail as his manager happen just two months after current UFC flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo let go of Ismail as his manager.

Ismail has yet to comment on Costa dropping him as a manager, but with what the Brazilian had to say, it seems like they are leaving on a good note.

Paulo Costa (13-2), as mentioned, is set to return to the Octagon on Aug. 20 at UFC 278 against Luke Rockhold. He has not fought since October when he suffered a decision loss to Marvin Vettori in his first fight since losing to Israel Adesanya by TKO for the middleweight belt.

In his UFC career, Costa is 5-2 with his wins coming over Yoel Romero, Uriah Hall, Johny Hendricks, Oluwale Bamgbose, and Garreth McLellan. Costa is also ranked sixth at middleweight and is also the former Jungle Fight middleweight champ.

What do you make of Paulo Costa dropping Wallid Ismail as his manager?