How Much Is Paulo Costa Making at UFC 298 Against Robert Whittaker?

Paulo Costa was, by far, the most popular fighter at the UFC 298 pre-fight press conference. And it is easy to see why. The strikingly handsome Brazilian, with his exciting bar brawler fighting style, eclectic sense of humor, and ability to make fun of himself has won the fans’ hearts. And the UFC, well aware of his star potential are seemingly doing their best to try and put him over, having matched him up with Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294 among the most popular fighters in the division last year.

‘Borrachina’ had to pull out of UFC 294 due to a bad staph infection, but his next fight, although not against as popular a fighter, will most likely put him on the topmost rungs of the title shot ladder, if he wins. Ahead of his consequential bout against former champion Robert Whittaker, let us take a look at the nearly ten-fold pay increase the Brazilian is getting for UFC 298.

Paulo Costa will join seven-figure club for UFC 298, per manager

Paulo Costa is coming into UFC 298 with a loss in his second to last fight against Marvin Vettori at their Fight Night card. The Brazilian came out after his five-round war with Vettori to complain that he only made $35,000 from the event. His base pay is likely to have been in the $50k-$70k range, but he had to forfeit part of his purse for for missing weight.

For his next fight against Luke Rockhold at UFC 278, his base pay was reported to be $65,000, but he made an additional $65,000 in win bonus and took home $130k. Since then, however, he has signed a new contract with the UFC, with much more favourable terms if one believes his manager, who made some big claims about the new contract.

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Costa’s manager (and girlfriend), Tamara Alvares claimed in last year that ‘Borrachina’ will be the highest paid Brazilian fighter on the UFC roster and will get “more than a million dollars per fight” according to the revised terms. This is not confirmed or even confirmable at this point since the UFC does not comment on the terms of its contracts.

But, if true, then the Brazilian, fighting for the first time since the extension, will get a base pay of more than $1 million dollars to face Robert Whittaker at UFC 298 tonight. This excludes incentive payout, win bonus and Fight or Performance of the Night bonuses he may pocket due to his performance.

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