Paulo Costa says Jan Blachowicz is lying that he turned down a fight at UFC 288

Paulo Costa is claiming Jan Blachowicz is lying that he turned down a fight at UFC 288.

Blachowicz, the former UFC light heavyweight champion has accused Costa (14-2 MMA) of rejecting a fight with him for UFC 288 which takes place on Saturday, May 6th at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

It was Jan Blachowicz (29-9 MMA) who took to ‘Twitter‘ claiming:

“So a few days ago @BorrachinhaMMA got offered to fight me.

I’ve said YES, he said – NO. The fight is OFF. How much juice does he need? 1 bottle of wine is enough to knock out this guy.”

Well, Paulo Costa wants to put the record straight and spoke to Ariel Helwani on ‘The MMA Hour’, offering his version of the events leading up to the offer to get in the Octagon with Blachowicz:

“Jan, he’s lying — I never turned down that fight. Actually, in fact, he is who turned down the fight. Yes, I have always been negotiating that fight. For three days, three or four days, I was negotiating with UFC. I never turned down the fight. I was actually very happy for that fight.”

Continuing ‘Borrachinha’ said:

“So what happened is the UFC came up with this offer, they say, ‘Paulo, we have a problem to May 6th, we need a replacement. We know it’s very short notice so we don’t want you do crazy stuff to make 185, so we suggest you fight at 205 against Jan Blachowicz.’ And I say, ‘Woah, that’s a very good fight, I like that matchup”

The Brazilian confirmed he wanted and accepted the fight with Jan saying:

“It’s a big opportunity, you know? I love the idea for three reasons: he beat all these guys already, I don’t need to cut a lot of weight to make 205 because I’m always trained, and it’s a good opportunity to make a lot of money as well because it’s short notice. So I accept the fight. But the UFC suggest me once I beat him, I don’t come back to 185. They said ‘once you beat Jan, you need to stay at 205 and hold your position, because Jan is No. 3. So you need to hold at 205.”

Concluding, the 32-year-old Paulo Costa further explained that he has business to do at 185 and cannot stay at 205:

“I told them, ‘Guys, I have business to do, to finish at 185. So, I cannot go right now to 205. I can go now this fight to fight Jan, but I don’t like the idea of staying stuck at 205. To not be able to come back and fight at 185. I have business to do. I have Gourmet Chenchen (Khamzat Chimaev), UFC wants that fight. And after Chimaev, I want to finish the business with Adesanya.”

So there you have it, Paula Costa’s version of why a fight with Blachowicz is not happening, at least not at UFC 288.

Do you agree with Costa that he’s got work to do at 185 and shouldn’t be mandated by the UFC to move up and stay at 205?

Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!