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UFC’s Paulo Costa is public enemy #1 in Abu Dhabi, and things almost got ugly at UFC 294.
Two weeks ago, Costa announced that he was forced to pull out of his fight after suffering a nasty staph infection on his elbow ahead of his scheduled bout against Khamzat Chimaev.
Costa shared a photo of the gruesome on his social media accounts.
“This is what my elbow looks like at this exact moment,” Costa said in a video on Twitter/X. “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.”
On Saturday, Costa attended UFC 294 as a spectator and immediately got booed by the Abu Dhabi crowd.
During the event, Costa was attacked by a fan as a fight broke out near the VIP section where Costa was seated.
PAULO COSTA GETTING IN FIGHTS IN ABU DHABI ONE WAY OR ANOTHER #UFC294 pic.twitter.com/cmIKP0ve1y
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) October 21, 2023