Paulo Costa has pulled out of his upcoming fight against Brunno Ferreira at UFC 326 in Las Vegas on March 7th.
It’s unclear at this stage why the 34-year-old Costa opted to withdraw from the match-up, with his intended opponent Ferreira reportedly just having described it as, “Paulo being Paulo.”
Costa only fought once this year, but earned plaudits for his performance in a convincing decision victory over Roman Kopylov in July.
Remarkably that was likely Costa’s best performance in the past five years, with the former title contender having only mustered a lackluster 1-4 record after that, so the win over Kopylov was important for him to regain some credibility, though it only leaves him ranked No.13 in the division.
Meanwhile, Ferreira told Brazilian reporter Léo Guimaraes that he still hopes to fight on the UFC 326 line-up and named Roman Dolidze as a potential opponent he’d be interested in fighting.
The 33-year-old Ferreira is eager to get his 2026 campaign off and running after compiling a three-fight winning streak this year, with back-to-back submission wins over Armen Petrosyan and Jackson McVey being followed up by a unanimous decision victory over Marvin Vettori earlier this month.
Ferreira is now hoping to make it into the top 15 rankings at 185lbs, and with that in mind sees the No.12 ranked Dolidze as a good option.
As things stand the UFC 326 event continues on with a headlining BMF title fight at 155lbs between Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira, while Renato Moicano vs. Brian Ortega serves as the co-main event.
