UFC middleweight contender Paulo Costa called out Robert Whittaker following his unanimous decision win over Jared Cannonier at UFC 254.

Costa is coming off of a TKO loss to UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in a failed bid to capture the belt at UFC 253. With Whittaker coming off the win over Cannonier, who was arguably next in line to fight Adesanya next, UFC president Dana White said that Whittaker vs. Adesanya is interesting. But Costa is now throwing a wrench in those potential plans by calling out for the Whittaker fight himself.

Take a look at what Costa wrote on Twitter and how he respectfully called out Whittaker.

Hey Robert Whittaker enjoy your end of year, you deserved. When you come back we can do amazing fight

— Paulo Costa ( Borrachinha ) (@BorrachinhaMMA) October 25, 2020

Hey Robert Whittaker enjoy your end of year, you deserved. When you come back we can do amazing fight

Costa is still one of the top-ranked contenders despite the devastating loss to Adesanya, so even though he lost his last fight he still figures to get a top opponent in his next outing. But with Whittaker coming off of a win and likely next in line for the title shot against the champion, it seems unlikely that Whittaker would be interested in fighting Costa in a non-title fight when a title shot against Adesanya could be out there for him.

However, should Adesanya pursue a superfight against Jon Jones or Jan Blachowicz at 205lbs, then Whittaker versus Costa becomes a very possible fight to make. As it stands now, though, it would seem more likely that Costa would fight Cannonier next because both men are coming off of a loss in their last outing and looking to get back into the title talks at 185lbs. But as we all know, MMA is a sport that moves very quickly, and the middleweight division remains one that is still very much up in flux.

Do you want to see Paulo Costa fight against Robert Whittaker next?