Vettori shoots down Costa rematch: 'You did me dirty'

Marvin Vettori needs a new opponent for UFC 275, but it won't be Paulo Costa.

Vettori was scheduled to face former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker at the June 11 pay-per-view event, but Whittaker withdrew earlier this week after suffering an injury.

Costa offered to step in for a rematch of their 2021 fight, which Vettori won by unanimous decision, but Vettori has no interest in running it back with the Brazilian - at least not right now.

"There's this other f-----g crazy f-----g guy that is trying to get a fight now, but he can just f--- off," Vettori said of Costa in a video posted to Instagram on Thursday. "You did me dirty and I f----d you up.

"That's over, buddy. That's over. Get somebody else in between. Let's see. Claim your spot. You're behind me."

Vettori and Costa met in a UFC Fight Night main event last October following one of the more bizarre fight weeks in recent memory. The fight was originally scheduled as a middleweight contest, but the two eventually met at light heavyweight after Costa showed up severely overweight and informed the promotion he would be unable to make 185 pounds.

With a clear-cut victory over Costa, Vettori remained in the hunt for Israel Adesanya's middleweight title, while Costa fell to 0-2 since 2020. "The Italian Dream" doesn't think agreeing to a rematch - considering Costa has yet to return to the win column - is a smart idea.

"It makes not a f-----g bit of sense for me to fight this motherf-----," Vettori said. "Zero sense for me. Zero."

He added: "F--- this dude. I got your money, I got the win. Get the f--- away from me."

Vettori said Khamzat Chimaev and Darren Till interest him as potential opponents.