Paulo Costa reportedly withdraws from UFC 326 bout against Brunno Ferreira 

Paulo Costa has reportedly pulled out of his fight against Brunno Ferreira at UFC 326 in March, just days after their bout was announced. It appears the promotion will be looking for a replacement opponent for Ferreira.

While it's unclear why Costa was forced to withdraw from the bout, MMA Fighting confirmed the development after an initial report from veteran journalist Leo Guimaraes.

Costa last faced Roman Kopylov at UFC 318 in July and snapped a two-fight losing streak with a unanimous decision win. Before that, he lost to Sean Strickland via split decision at UFC 302 in June 2024 and to Robert Whittaker via unanimous decision at UFC 298 in February 2024.

Meanwhile, Ferreira beat Marvin Vettori via unanimous decision at UFC 323 earlier this month. Before that, the 33-year-old Brazilian beat Jackson McVey via first-round submission at UFC 318 in July.

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Brunno Ferreira addresses "soft a** Paulo Costa pulling out of their UFC 326 bout

Brunno Ferreira recently addressed Paulo Costa withdrawing from their scheduled fight at UFC 326 and took shots at his fellow countryman. Ferreira also called out Roman Dolidze and urged the Georgian-born fighter to step in as a replacement.

In an Instagram post, Ferreira confirmed that "weak rubber" Costa was out of their fight and called on Dolidze to accept his challenge. The 33-year-old Brazilian also took shots at "soft a**" Costa and wrote in the caption:

"Unfortunately, the weak rubber left the fight. But that's nothing new, he's a soft a**. With all due respect, @romandolidze I have nothing against you, but let’s give a beating show to the fans at UFC 326 because I know you’re not a soft a** like 'Borrachinha.'"

Dolidze had his three-fight winning streak snapped after losing to Anthony Hernandez via fourth-round submission at UFC Vegas 109 in August. Before that, he outpointed Marvin Vettori over five rounds at UFC Vegas 104 in March.

Edited by Nishant Zende.