Paulo Costa reveals he turned down a six-fight contract extension with the UFC: “1 fight to get free”

Paulo Costa has turned down a contract extension with the UFC.

Costa has been vocal about his looming free agency and only having one fight left on his deal. He has also said he has yet to sign a bout agreement to face Robert Whittaker at UFC 284, and was looking forward to free agency. Costa has been vocal about his displeasure with his contract due to his pay.

“I have one more, I didn’t know, I thought this was the last one but I have one more. I’m looking forward to being a free agent for sure, I will not lie to you. I’d (thought) this was the last one of this contract,” Paulo Costa said on The MMAHour. “I really believe it’s not just for me, it’s for everybody. I’m on a high, high level, fighting the best of this division and my contract is too old. When I fought Marvin Vettori, I got $35,000. $35,000. For this one was a couple more, a couple more, I got the win bonus, and because when I fought Marvin Vettori, I got a 20% reduction… I need to talk with them and see. I’m not rushing up to see, but we need to see, we need to figure it out. I’m not happy with the current contract, of course.”

With Costa not happy with his contract he tweeted on Tuesday reminding people that he has one fight left on his contract to get to free agency.

Just 1 fight to get free from UFC contract

— Paulo Costa ( Borrachinha ) (@BorrachinhaMMA) December 6, 2022

“Just 1 fight to get free from UFC contract,” Costa wrote.

That was not surprising, but what did come as a surprise as on Wednesday, Paulo Costa once again took to social media to reveal he turned down a contract extension. According to the Brazilian, he was offered a six-fight deal but he isn’t interested in multi-fight deals.

so I politely declined. they offer a 6-fight deal, but I'm not interested in a multi-fight deal.

— Paulo Costa ( Borrachinha ) (@BorrachinhaMMA) December 8, 2022

“so I politely declined. they offer a 6-fight deal, but I’m not interested in a multi-fight deal,” Costa added.

If Costa does indeed hit free agency, he would highly sought after as he is a big name. Yet, with him not wanting a multi-fight deal, that may limit his market, but he has talked about going into boxing after this deal.

Paulo Costa is coming off a decision win over Luke Rockhold at UFC 278. The win snapped his two-fight losing skid as he had lost a decision to Marvin Vettori and was TKO’d by Israel Adesanya.

Do you think Paulo Costa leaves the UFC after his UFC 284 fight against Robert Whittaker?