Paulo Costa withdrew from UFC 294, but he still threw at least one punch at the event.
Toward the start of Saturday’s pay-per-view main card at Etihad Arena on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, Costa combatted a leaping rush of unidentified spectators who tried to get at the UFC middleweight contender.
A pair of videos posted to X (formerly Twitter) captured portions of the altercation. One angle showed a man leap the divider for a flying punch attempt at Costa, who stood in the entrance way. Costa fired back with a left hand of his own. A massive amount of security guards quickly nixed the fisticuffs and restrained at least two charging spectators as Costa was rushed further toward his seat.
“Where’s the footages,” Costa tweeted after the incident. “I want to see my highlights lol.”
The “footages” can be watched below:
I gotchu: @BorrachinhaMMA pic.twitter.com/TWUTbmHdF8
— Tahseen Almas (@TahseenAlmas) October 21, 2023
Costa, 32, originally was scheduled to fight Khamzat Chimaev as the card’s co-main event. However, Costa was replaced by Kamaru Usman less than two weeks prior to the card due to a severe elbow infection. Chimaev went on to defeat Usman by majority decision.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 294.
