Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight title challenger Paulo Costa will not be making his 2026 debut after all.<\/p>\n
That frustration wasn\u2019t limited to fans criticizing him. Former Welterweight title challenger Darren Till \u2014 once one of Costa\u2019s most vocal defenders \u2014 went fully scorched earth, unloading on \u201cBorrachinha\u201d with a brutal rant on social media.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis guy is just a big jumped up joke of a juice head. Has no respect for the sport,\u201d Till wrote on Twitter. \u201cJust quit Costa and keep doing ur secret juice gig cos it\u2019s the only thing that works for u. Ur an absolute mongoloide. Ur a bum. Ur a whore. Quit please quit my brother. You are so so f\u2014king s\u2014t. I think you may be the worst fighter to ever fight in the ufc ever. And ur title challenge was worse than mine and that\u2019s saying something.\u201d<\/p>\n
The outburst was especially notable given Till\u2019s history with Costa. Just five years ago, Till publicly defended the Brazilian after his lopsided loss<\/a> to Israel Adesanya at UFC 253, but has since floated the idea of boxing Costa outside the Octagon.<\/p>\n Costa, however, has done little to quiet the noise. He fought just once in 2025, earning a clear unanimous decision win over Roman Kopylov at UFC 318 to snap a two-fight skid.<\/p>\n Still, with repeated pullouts and long stretches of inactivity, Costa\u2019s once-promising Middleweight title trajectory continues to fade \u2014 and patience, even from former allies, appears to be officially gone.<\/p>\n