Severe Illness Forces Paulo Costa Out of April 17 Bout vs. Robert Whittaker

A severe case of the flu has forced Paulo Costa to withdraw from a scheduled clash with Robert Whittaker at UFC on ESPN 22.

AgFight was first to report that the bout was in jeopardy, and multiple outlets have since confirmed that an illness has resulted in Costa’s exit from the card. This particular case of the flu has hindered the Brazilian’s ability to properly prepare for the fight, which ultimately forced him to pull out of the event.

The Las Vegas-based promotion is reportedly looking into moving Costa vs. Whittaker to May 1 or May 8, but nothing has been finalized. It appears unlikely that Whittaker will receive a replacement opponent.

"We just need two more weeks because Paulo got a strong flu and had to stop his training," Costa's manager, Walllid Ismael, told Sherdog.com. "Actually, the entire team of trainers and sparring partners were hit by the virus."

Ismael emphasized that Costa's sickness was a normal flu, not COVID-19.

"Actually Paulo caught COVID at the end of December," Ismael said. "Now the cause is a flu that hit all trainers and fighters of the team. So, there were no relationship with coronavirus."

UFC on ESPN 22 takes place on April 17 and is expected to be held at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card also includes a lightweight showdown between Jeremy Stephens and Drakkar Klose.

Costa last appeared at UFC 253, where he suffered a second-round technical knockout loss to Israel Adesanya in a middleweight championship clash. It was his first defeat in 14 professional outings.

Whittaker, meanwhile, rebounded from losing the 185-pound belt to Adesanya at UFC 243, with back-to-back decision triumphs over Darren Till and Jared Cannonier in 2020.

Marcelo Alonso contributed to this report.