Paulo Costa Shares Photo of Elbow Infection That Forced UFC 294 Exit

Official speech about the medical impediment and remove from the fight on October 21st in Abudhabi. I will be back sooner than later . Thanks! 🧃🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/m0Rqe6fEAG

— Paulo Costa ( Borrachinha ) (@BorrachinhaMMA) October 17, 2023

Paulo Costa’s elbow is not a pretty sight.

On Tuesday, the middleweight shared a photo of the elbow infection that caused him to withdraw from his co-main event showdown against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294. Costa initially planned to remain on Saturday’s card after undergoing surgery a few weeks before the event, but “Borrachinha” ultimately had to undergo another procedure.

“This is what my elbow looks like at this exact moment,” Costa said in a video on social media. “It is open exactly as it is in this photo …The hole needs to stay like this, open and closing from the inside out. You cannot close an injury with stitches when you have an infection like this.

“This was not a medical error or my mistake or whoever. This is the result of a serious chronic bacterial infection that became resistant to various antibiotics and even with appropriate medical treatment, the infection insisted on returning.”

With the images Costa has provided, it is clear that facing Chimaev at UFC 294 was no longer an option. Instead, Chimaev will face former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in Saturday’s new co-headliner. The winner of that contest is expected to receive a middleweight title shot.

“There will always be criticism, regardless of the situation,” Costa said. “Some might say: ‘Oh you could be fighting like that, even with the elbow open.’ Or others, they might say: ‘Why didn’t you wait to have this surgery after the fight?’ I didn’t have that option. I had two options. I would have emergency surgery or I would put my health at permanent risk.”

Costa last appeared at UFC 278 in August 2022, when he ended a two-bout skid with a unanimous decision triumph over Luke Rockhold in Salt Lake City.