Paulo Costa is hoping Yoel Romero waits for him to fully recover before stepping back inside the Octagon.

The UFC wanted to book Costa vs. Romero twice. The first time, plans were in place to have this bout go down at UFC 230 this past Saturday night (Nov. 3). That didn’t happen as Romero couldn’t recover in time from nagging injuries. Then the promotion tried booking the fight for their ESPN+ debut and that too got derailed when Costa needed more time to heal from his own injuries.

Costa has caught wind of Romero expressing interest in a fight with Anderson Silva. The rising middleweight bruiser took to Instagram and had the following to say:

“Yes, unfortunately I am still injured, the same injury I had before fighting Uriah Hall and will be ready to fight in March 2019. I waited for Romero three months, he cannot wait two for me?”

In his last outing, Costa starched Uriah Hall in the second round back in July. It’s a huge feather in the cap of Costa as many believe Hall looked the best he’s had since an upset win over Gegard Mousasi in their first encounter. As for Romero, he hasn’t competed since June. “The Soldier of God” lost to UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker via split decision in their rematch. The bout was a non-title match-up as Romero missed weight.