‘You scared me!’ Watch Dana White panic as Paulo Costa rushes Luke Rockhold at UFC 278 presser

I think by now we’ve established the fact that former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold doesn’t give a rat’s ass about promotion president Dana White or the way UFC runs its global fight business.

Need proof? Get a load of this.

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MASSIVE MIDDLEWEIGHT MATCH! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) makes its highly anticipated return to Sydney, Australia, for the first time in five years on Sat., Sept. 9, 2023, with a 185-pound world title fight inside Qudos Bank Arena. In the ESPN+-streamed pay-per-view (PPV) main event, Middleweight roost-ruler, Israel Adesanya, plans to silence No. 5-seeded contender, Sean Strickland. In UFC 293’s hard-hitting Heavyweight co-main event, No-6-ranked fan favorite, Tai Tuivasa, locks horns with towering Russian, Alexander Volkov (No. 8).

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And Paulo Costa, who faces Rockhold in the UFC 278 pay-per-view (PPV) co-main event this Sat. night (Aug. 20, 2022) at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, is competing on the final fight of his current UFC contract.

There’s not much you can do to punish either fighter.

That’s probably why White nearly jumped out of his shoes when Costa rushed the stage at the UFC 278 press conference on Thursday in “The Beehive State.” The Brazilian never made contact with the former Strikeforce champ, but it was certainly a close call.

“You scared me!” White shouted.

The fight between Rockhold and Costa was originally planned for UFC 277 in July but “The Eraser” talked matchmakers into delaying the bout by a few extra weeks. Naturally, that didn’t sit well with Rockhold, who’s still bitter about the delay.

“This motherfucker didn’t want to take the fight in the first place,” Rockhold said. “The UFC forced it down his throat and then he delayed it twice, month after month and all the cosmetic bullshit he got done. You little bitch, shut up.”

Costa was unfazed by the complaint.

“I’m on my primetime,” he said. “I will fuck this old man up on Saturday. He is visibly uncomfortable because he knows he will face a monster. He knows already. Look at him, He’s uncomfortable. I will retire him on Saturday.”

We’ll find out in less than 48 hours.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 278 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ABC/ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 278: “Usman vs. Edwards 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the complete UFC 278 fight card and PPV lineup click here.