Costa was scheduled to take on his countryman Brunno Ferreira on March 7 at UFC 326 before recent news that he\u2019d withdrawn from the event<\/a>, but that was immediately followed by an online back-and-forth between the Brazilian and fellow middleweight contender Ikram Aliskerov. <\/p>\n Paulo Costa Accepts Callout From Ikram Aliskerov<\/p>\n Tagging UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard, Aliskerov referenced when he and Costa were scheduled to fight in Salt Lake City at UFC 291 and called for the pair to finally settle things. <\/p>\n \u201cPaulo, I was in Utah read to fight and you disappeared. Let\u2019s settle it in the cage. No pullouts, no excuses. [Mick Maynard] I\u2019m ready.”<\/p>\n READ MORE: Oktagon MMA double-champ runs through top heavyweight that left UFC on win streak<\/a><\/p>\n Costa appeared to directly sign off on the matchup with his comment on Aliskerov\u2019s initial post, but he also took to his own Instagram account to have a bit of fun and question if Aliskerov\u2019s manager Ali Abdelaziz was actually the one making the callout. <\/p>\n \u201cHi Ali [Abdelaziz], how are going? I hope very well. =].\u201d<\/p>\n Reason For Costa’s UFC 326 Withdrawal Still Unclear<\/p>\n If Costa is serious about accepting Aliskerov\u2019s challenge, whatever pulled him out of his UFC 326 booking with Ferreira presumably won\u2019t keep him sidelined for very long. <\/p>\n Sean Strickland (red gloves) fights Paulo Costa (blue gloves) during UFC 302 at Prudential Center. | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images<\/p>\n \u201cThe Eraser\u201d carried an undefeated record into a middleweight title shot against Israel Adesanya<\/a> at UFC 253 but being was in the second round. Costa has struggled to maintain an active schedule since then and finally fought twice in the same year again last year when he dropped back-to-back decisions to former UFC middleweight titleholders Robert Whittaker<\/a> and Sean Strickland. <\/p>\n READ MORE: Islam Makhachev reveals timetable for first UFC welterweight title defense in 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Phil Hawes (red gloves) fights Ikram Aliskerov (blue gloves) during UFC 288 at Prudential Center. | Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images<\/p>\n The 34-year-old returned to the win column at UFC 318 when he defeated Roman Kopylov, and a potential matchup with Aliskerov would see Costa put his #13 middleweight ranking on the line after Aliskerov secured wins over Andre Muniz and Jun Yong Park in 2025. <\/p>\n More MMA Knockout News<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0UFC\u2019s \u201cGod of War\u201d turns heads with bizarre training method for UFC 325 fight<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Ex-UFC champion raises questions about outcome of Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua<\/a> <\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0UFC knockout king claims heavyweight kickboxing champion passed on UFC 324 fight<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0MMA veteran that was never knocked out in the UFC suffers brutal KO loss<\/a><\/p>\n Stick with\u00a0MMAKnockout<\/a>\u00a0for more FREE coverage of the UFC and MMA.<\/p>\n Follow MMAKnockout on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Sean](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/01kdn9skebx25tfyn9tr.jpg\" "\\"Sean")
<\/p>\n![\"Phil](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/01kdn9tyhfhc9ked5m2y.jpg\" "\\"Phil")
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