Breaking: Paulo Costa reportedly withdraws from UFC 294 clash against Khamzat Chimaev, top-ranked middleweight contender declines short-notice fight

According to reports, Paulo Costa has been forced to pull out of his highly anticipated bout against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294. Dana White recently revealed that the bout may be in jeopardy due to the Brazilian's bursitis injury, and it seems the UFC CEO's worst fears have come true.

According to the OverDogs Podcast, 'Borrachinha' is officially out of his bout against Chimaev, and the promotion approached Marvin Vettori to step in on short notice. However, 'The Italian Dream' refused to accept, leaving the UFC desperate to find a top-ranked middleweight contender to face 'Borz'.

Earlier this week, Paulo Costa revealed that he underwent surgery on his right elbow after suffering a bad case of bursitis. In the aftermath, 'Borrachinha' required 10 stitches and was ordered two weeks of rest without training. While Costa was adamant about fighting Chimaev just five weeks after surgery, it seems he'll have to wait a bit longer.

Paulo Costa last defeated Luke Rockhold via unanimous decision at UFC 278 in August 2022 and hasn’t competed since. While he was linked to fights against Robert Whittaker at UFC 284 and Ikram Aliskeriv at UFC 291, his rivalry against Khamzat Chimaev eventually led to their booking for UFC 294. However, it remains to be seen if they fight sometime down the line.

This is the second high-profile bout on the UFC 294 card that has been canceled over the past 48 hours. It was confirmed earlier that Charles Oliveira was forced to pull out of his title rematch against Islam Makhachev due to an injury. He has been replaced by featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, who last faced the Dagestani grappling phenom in a superfight at UFC 280.