Paulo Costa should take UFC to arbitration | Ep. 280

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit heynottheface.substack.com Thank you for checking out the Hey Not The Face! Podcast, a listener-supported publication. We’d be eternally grateful if you could help us by purchasing a subscription for access to all our paywalled content. In today’s episode, we’re looking at UFC 331 payouts and what they represent. We go from the lowest tier up to the top with our analysis. We discuss whether Nico Ali-Walsh’s defense of his support of TKO’s Ali Act amendment holds water, and we put interim titles under a microscope. We also weigh in on Paulo Costa’s list of serious demands regarding the last fight on his contract. There’s a lot more, so make sure to follow along with our outline as you listen: *We urge you to pick up a paid subscription, as it helps us keep the show going and allows you access to paywalled content* Episode 280 Outline * Are there any new filings or updates in the UFC antitrust cases? * Nico Ali-Walsh spent some time defending himself on Cigar Talk Podcast. What did you think of what he said? * Earlier in the week, Dana White said that Cyril Gane was not the undisputed champion despite being the interim heavyweight champ when Tom Aspinall vacated the title. He ended up walking it back, saying he misspoke. What did you make of that? * If Dana hadn’t walked it back, would Gane have had any recourse? * We got to see UFC purse payouts from last night’s UFC 331. Did anything from those stand out to you? * Were you surprised to see Alexandre Pantoja’s $650K purse being larger than the sitting champion’s $500K, despite not being champ? * What did you think of Tai Tuivasa making $350K to show? * What did you think of Gable Steveson’s $160K to show? * How damaged do you think Steveson’s career is by that knockout and negative press he received all week? * Were you surprised to see Dana award Sean Sharaf the Mobland Proper Chaos bonus of $50K and then match it with his own $50K, considering how hard they’ve been pushing Gable? * Paul Costa tweeted a list of demands, basically asking for his last fight or a release? Does he have any way of compelling the UFC to meet his demands? *Status Report: Declarations of White and Mirkovich