Surging UFC middleweight contender Paulo Costa was briefly linked to a UFC 230 showdown with former title challenger Yoel Romero. Regrettably, Romero will not be healthy in time to battle Costa on this November 3 card.<\/p>\n
“Maybe four or five months [until I can return],” Yoel Romero said<\/a> on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show this week. “The doctor said, ‘Yoel needs more time.’ You know me. If you give me somebody, I take it. But you need to be smart. When the doctor says, ‘You’re ready,’ you can go. I’m waiting.<\/p>\n “My eye is not ready. I want to fight, but it is what it is. The doctor said, ‘Yoel cannot fight.’ I want to fight on this card, this show. Anytime you have an opportunity to fight at Madison Square Garden in New York, you’re making history. But I need to wait.”<\/p>\n With Yoel Romero no longer available, Paulo Costa is going to need a new opponent for his next fight. Rising UFC middleweight contender Antonio Carlos Jr. is hoping to fill that role.<\/p>\n Carlos Jr. made his callout of Paulo Costa on Twitter, claiming that he will show the world what happened when they used to spar together.<\/p>\n Hey @BorrachinhaMMA<\/a> ! Let me fill in for Romero! Lets let the world see how our sparring used to go!!! @ufc<\/a> @danawhite<\/a> @Mickmaynard2<\/a><\/p>\n — Antonio \u201cShoeface\u201d Carlos Jr. (@caradesapatojr) August 21, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n