Paulo Costa has done it again. Adding to his scarring reputation of last-minute cancellations, the middleweight has pulled out of his UFC 326 bout against Brunno Ferreira only a week after the fight’s announcement. Neither the fighter nor the promotion has explained the withdrawal, but truth be told, a reasoning might not have helped anyway. At least, former UFC fighter Darren Till’s outburst suggests that.

Till took to X and wrote, “This guy is just a big jumped up joke of a juice ed. Has no respect for the sport. Just quit Costa and keep doing your secret juice gig because it’s the only thing that works for you.

“You’re a bum. You’re a wh-re. Quit, please quit, my brother. You are so so fuc-ing sh-t. I think you may be the worst fighter to ever fight in the UFC. And your title challenge was worse than mine, and that’s saying something.”

Till was referring to the fact that Costa has often spoken up about a secretive drink that helps him with hydration and helps him maintain his physique. He calls it his secret juice. And in the past few years, UFC fans have seen him drink the liquid out of bottles at events.

But it all started because he was repeatedly accused of using performance-enhancing drugs, despite being one of the most tested athletes in the promotion. The fighter used these rumors to prop up his ‘secret juice gimmick’ and would be seen taking sips of a coloured liquid from a bottle.

He then used that to build his business: Secret Juice Army, which sells merchandise with the now-famous slogan. Think about caps, T-shirts, tank tops, and more.

But Till is not impressed.

Also, let’s not forget that withdrawing from an important fight won’t play well for Costa. He is currently #13 in the middleweight division and needs to climb it if he wants to get into the title fight discussions.

As a top-ranked title challenger, he previously faced off against Israel Adesanya. But he was handed his first career loss via a second-round TKO in 2020. His career has only gone downward. Since then, Costa has gone 2-3 in the UFC, with seven bouts either canceled or rescheduled.

For example, in 2021, Costa withdrew from his fights against Robert Whittaker and Jared Cannonier. He followed it with a pullout against Luke Rockhold in 2022, and Ikram Aliskerov and Khamzat Chimaev in 2023. Most recently, he was forced to pull out of UFC 317 against Roman Kopylov due to USADA issues, rescheduling the fight to UFC 318.

Clearly, Costa hasn’t been a very reliable figure. Whether his best days are behind him is a hot topic. But what doesn’t leave room for discussion is Brunno Ferreira’s reaction to Costa’s pullout.

Brunno Ferreira names replacement fighter

It was not just Darren Till or the MMA fanbase that was ticked off at Costa following the UFC 326 debacle. Brunno Ferreira wasn’t afraid to voice out his frustrations during an interview on UFC fighter Valter Walker’s YouTube channel.

“It wasn’t that we asked for it. It wasn’t something I was looking for. Everything was fine, everything agreed upon. From our side, everything was 100 percent, too,” Ferreira explained.

He added, “And then we see Paulo being Paulo, [which] is nothing more than ‘Borrachinha’ being a wimp in the way he was, right?… Completely unsportsmanlike, unethical, and above all, disrespectful to another athlete,” naming the crux of the issue.

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However, Ferreira is not done with UFC 326. Naming another ranked contender for his bout next year, Ferreira landed on Roman Dolidze.

“Unfortunately, the weak rubber [‘Borrachinha’ means ‘little rubber’] was forced out of the fight. But that’s nothing new about him being a soft a-s,” Ferreira criticized. “With all due respect, Roman Dolidze, I have nothing against you, but let’s give a beating show to the fans at UFC 326 because I know you’re not a soft a-s like ‘Borrachinha.’”

With yet another abrupt withdrawal adding to his already shaky reputation, Paulo Costa now finds himself facing tougher questions about his future credibility in the UFC than any opponent across the Octagon. What do you think pushed Paulo Costa out of UFC 326 this time? Comment below.