Paulo Costa may not be able to make his Octagon comeback on the timetable he had hoped for, which was by the end of the year.
The middleweight champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship won a majority decision over Luke Rockhold at UFC 278 on Saturday. Costa’s right hand was shattered during that 15-minute event, and he recently had surgery to fix it.
According to a video posted to his official YouTube page, the Brazilian said the operation went well and that he expects to be out of action for about eight weeks.
“I broke my hand in the fight,” said Costa.
“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.”
Since the UFC is already booked solid for the rest of 2022 with Fight Night and pay-per-view events, Costa may have to wait until 2023 to compete again. For the first time in five years, “Borrachinha” may have a chance to participate in Brazil if circumstances pan out in this way. A pay-per-view event, UFC 283, has been confirmed for January 21 at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, marking the UFC’s return to the country.
“I planned on fighting in 60 days but it won’t be possible,” said Costa.
“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.”
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