Paulo Costa re-hospitalized, needs third surgery for staph infection in elbow

Paulo Costa is currently hospitalized and will need a third surgery to address a staph infection that ultimately led to his removal from a fight with Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294.

Tamara Alves, Costa’s partner and manager, told MMA Fighting on Wednesday afternoon that the one-time UFC middleweight title challenger is not medically cleared to compete at the Oct. 21 pay-per-view and is in limbo due to the “still active” infection in his right elbow.

Alves said Costa underwent a second surgical procedure for the infection on Tuesday and will again go under the knife on Friday to clean out the area. She wrote Costa never hid his injury from his promoter.

“Just to be clear: UFC always knew about Paulo’s surgery,” she wrote via text. “They paid and supported him on this.”

Costa revealed earlier this week a surgery three weeks ago to address an infected bursa in his right elbow. He said he would only bow out if he wasn’t medically cleared by doctors.

On Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour, Costa vowed to compete despite the injury and posted videos online of his training in Abu Dhabi, which hosts the event.

“He’s trying to fight in any way,” Alves said of Costa’s repeated calls to fight. “That’s what he wants. Right now, he needs to recover and make sure the infection will not come back.”

Costa on Wednesday confirmed his hospitalization in a statement on X.

UFC CEO Dana White on Tuesday revealed the Costa vs. Chimaev bout was in jeopardy and promised an update on its status. On Wednesday, he announced Chimaev will now face ex-welterweight champ Kamaru Usman in the co-headliner.

Costa most recently competed at UFC 278, when he earned a unanimous decision over Luke Rockhold. He was linked to fights with ex-champ Robert Whittaker at UFC 284 and Ikram Aliskerov at UFC 291, but both fell through after he said he hadn’t agreed to take them. After trading insults with Chimaev, Costa focused in on returning to beat the heavily-hyped Chechen, who will make his middleweight debut at UFC 294.

“I’m here to beat him,” Costa said. “The only way [we won’t fight] is if doctors drag me out screaming, kicking, and not allow me to go inside the cage, because I came to fight him and I truly believe I’m going to beat him.”

Costa released an additional video and written statement on his Instagram describing the circumstances around his withdrawal from UFC 294.