Paulo Costa undergoes hand surgery, eyes return at UFC Rio de Janeiro in January
Paulo Costa successfully had surgery on the broken hand he suffered against Luke Rockhold at UFC 278.
Costa earned a decision win over Rockhold in the Fight of the Night to snap his two-fight losing skid. Heading into the fight, many expected the Brazilian to KO the former champ but that didn’t happen and Costa had to gut out a decision win, and during the fight he broke his hand.
Now, Costa took to his YouTube channel that he recently had surgery on his hand and should be able to return in 50 or 60 days.
“I broke my hand in the fight,” Costa said. “I thought I had a bone injury or maybe ligaments, but what really happened was a fracture to the metacarpal bone. I hoped it wasn’t a fracture because then I would be able to come back to fighting again in 50 or 60 days and use all the conditioning and the whole camp I’ve done (for Rockhold).”
With Paulo Costa getting the surgery, it likely ends his hope of fighting again this year. The Brazilian has one fight left on his deal and has been vocal in saying he is excited to test free agency.
Yet, for now, Costa will rehab his hand and is hoping to return the Rio de Janeiro, Brazil card in January.
“I planned on fighting in 60 days, but it won’t be possible,” Costa said. “I’ll have to fight in December or January. We’ll have a UFC card in Rio, so maybe it happens there. It’s up to the UFC.”
Paulo Costa (14-2) as mentioned beat Rockhold by decision after losing to Marvin Vettori by decision and suffering a TKO loss to Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title. In the UFC, Costa also has beaten Yoel Romero, Uriah Hall, Johny Hendricks, Oluwale Bamgbose, and Garreth McLellan. Before signing with the UFC, he was the Jungle Fight middleweight champ.
