Sean Strickland is going to make Paulo Costa bleed.
On Saturday, June 1st, the Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey for an overlapping night headlined by a lightweight title showdown between reigning champion Islam Makhachev and No. 4 ranked Dustin Poirier. The match will be held.
The night will also feature a high-stakes middleweight showdown between former titleholders Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa.
Initially, Costa claimed that Strickland had turned down the offer of a match, but “Tarzan'' subsequently clarified that he had not turned down the fight. He turned down a lower fight offer from the UFC with seven weeks' notice. The issue was later resolved and the fight was officially announced by Dana White during the UFC 300 post-fight press conference.
As Strickland geared up for a summer scrap, he naturally sent a message to his opponent on Instagram in typical Strickland fashion.
“You know, I like Costa. He's a funny guy. He makes me laugh. He's a free speech supporter. I like that guy,” Strickland said in the video. Ta. “But I'm going to shed that dirty Brazilian blood. Brazil doesn't even like Costa, so I'm going to do it for Brazil. So, Brazil, this is for you guys. Let’s get it done.”
Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa aim to return to the win column
UFC 302 will be Sean Strickland's first fight since relinquishing the 185-pound title to current champion Drikas du Plessis.
“Tarzan” lobbied hard for an immediate rematch with “Stillnox,” but Strickland did not want to be named as the promotion's intention was to book DDP's first defense against two-time titleholder Israel Adesanya. will have to fight in the rankings before he can win another UFC gold medal.
After a year and a half, Costa returned to action at UFC 288, taking on Robert Whittaker. “The Eraser” was no match and lost by unanimous decision to “The Reaper”.
