Paulo Costa Responds to Wanderlei Silva’s Advice to Look for a Bigger Camp

Last week in an interview with Brazilian outlet Portal do Vale Tudo , former Pride champion Wanderlei Silva advised Paul Costa, his former pupil on “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3,” to potentially seek out a new camp.

"I sent him a direct message on Instagram asking him to train with a big team. I really believe that, with the level the sport has reached today, it is really important for a top contender to have a hard time at the gym everyday with different sparring partners,” Silva said. “’Borrachinha’ was my second choice on ‘TUF: Brazil 3’ against [Chael] Sonnen. I know this guy is special. He has a champion’s heart. Imagine a guy with his potential training at Kings MMA, Evolução Thai or CM System.”

After listening to the advice of his idol in the PVT interview, Costa responded with a comment in the timeline of the video.

"Wanderlei is a Brazilian and world legend. I had the privilege of living with him for 40 days during “TUF: Brazil 3” and my admiration for him just increased,” Costa wrote. “I really appreciate his concern. I already trained in many places in Brazil and around the world and never had the hard times I faced in my camps.

“My team is doing a wonderful job. It worked so far and will continue to work, because the training is twice as hard as the fight itself. It will not be an accident that I´ll change everything. Make no mistake. No one watches my training, so don't believe the guy who thinks he can tell you how it works.”

Costa, who trains at Team Borracha, is coming off a second-round TKO loss to Israel Adesanya in a middleweight title bout at UFC 253 last October. “Borrachinha” is scheduled to return against Marvin Vettori in the main event of UFC Fight Night 196 on Oct. 23.