Report: Luke Rockhold vs Paulo Costa “likely” to be rescheduled to August 20 event
A scheduled fight between former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold and former middleweight title challenger Paulo Costa is getting a new date. The former champion was preparing for a summer return to action against Costa that was reportedly set to take place at UFC 277 but now, in a move that was first reported by MMA reporter “The Schmo” the fight is being moved to August 20, which is slated to be the promotion’s UFC 278 pay-per-view event.
BREAKING: per sources @LukeRockhold vs @BorrachinhaMMA Moved to AUGUST 20th #UFC #fightnews #MMATwitter
— The Schmo (@TheSchmo312) May 25, 2022
Earlier this week, Luke Rockhold hinted at the apparent date change when he was a guest on Submission Radio and called out Costa and his team for prolonging their matchup. Rockhold did not hold back when discussing the push back, saying he’s not sure what’s causing the delay but believed “something” is going on behind the scenes.
“I don’t know what he’s doing behind the scenes getting veneers or getting f***ing his whole face redone, getting a new nose, what’s next? I don’t know. Everything I think he’s doing all this cosmetic work or something’s going on because he keeps delaying [the fight] he might come out looking like Caitlyn Jenner, you never know. He’s trying to delay the fight again until August 20, something is going on behind the scenes, I don’t know what you’re doing over there kid.”
With their fight date consistently changing, Luke Rockhold discussed the timeline of previously set matchups between him and Costa, and how much it has changed leading up to their eventual meeting inside the Octagon.
“We were supposed to fight July 2nd then I think he had his first surgery, then it was July 30th and I think he was on his second or third surgery, so now they pushed it to August 20th.”
The reasoning for the continued date changes is unknown, but Luke Rockhold is clearly frustrated with Paulo Costa and when they do finally meet inside the Octagon, it’ll be a long time coming, and the winner could be in line for a big fight in the immediate future.
