Paulo Costa logged on Sunday, Oct. 18, and spent his afternoon rooting for a city to burn. I wish that was a columnist exaggerating for effect. It’s a fairly literal summary of his X timeline.
Here’s the run from @BorrachinhaMMA, with all times in GMT. At 2:36 p.m. he wrote “Burn Paris burn.” Thirteen minutes later he quote-posted an account showing the unrest with the caption “Paris nesse exato momento” (roughly, Paris right this second), and he added “Paris now 😂😂😂😂.” Two minutes after that he reshared the same post and wrote “France is the new Palestine.” At 2:53 he dropped “I love ❤️ this” on top of a post about a frightened Frenchwoman that ended with the line “Only remigration can save her.” At 2:55 he went sarcastic with “Open the borders 🙌🙏🔥😂” over a Mario Nawfal post blaming open borders and “woke pandering” for the chaos. Then, apparently worried he’d been too subtle, he came back at 6:19 p.m. with “🔥 till the ground Paris.”
That’s the loud part. The part that bugs me more came first.
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The two-word post
At 2:32 p.m., before any of the Paris stuff, Costa quote-posted a letter from an account called @Byanu and added exactly one thing, the handle @SecRubio. The letter asks federal authorities to examine the immigration or residence status of Wagner Moura, a Brazilian national it says has lived in Los Angeles for several years. The reason given is Moura’s commentary about the United States. According to the letter, Moura said the US is no longer a democracy, called ICE actions fascist and racist, and, in a video released around Oct. 16, accused America of a pressure campaign to control Brazil’s rare-earth minerals.
The letter even admits political speech is protected. Then it asks for a review of his status anyway, because the speech was, in its words, consistent and severe.
So let’s lay out what Costa co-signed. A Brazilian, aiming a government official at another Brazilian, over things that guy said into a microphone. Costa’s entire public persona runs on saying outrageous things online. He spent that same Sunday cheering a burning city with crying-laughing emojis. And the guy he wants looked at is in trouble for having opinions in public.
Heels need an opponent
I love a villain. I will defend a good heel until my keyboard breaks. Villains sell fights, they make press conferences worth watching, and the best ones say something nasty and then have to stand in the cage and answer for it. That’s the deal. You talk, somebody gets a shot at shutting you up, and the whole thing pays off on fight night.
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None of Sunday’s posts have that structure. There’s no opponent. There’s no fight to sell. Laughing at civil unrest in Paris doesn’t build toward anything, because nobody is buying a pay-per-view to watch the 11th arrondissement get its revenge. This is Joker-at-the-hospital energy without the movie around it, and a villain with no story is just a guy yelling.
The Rubio tag is worse, because by Costa’s own sport’s standards it’s a duck. When somebody says something you hate, the fight-world move is to say something back, louder and funnier, or to call him out. Costa has a big X account and zero shyness. He could’ve gone after Moura’s actual arguments about minerals or ICE directly. Instead he typed two words and passed the beef to someone with a federal badge. That’s the trash-talk version of losing a staredown and then filing a complaint with the commission.
I can’t stand fighters who duck. I really can’t stand fighters who duck and outsource it.
The emoji tells you everything
The “Open the borders” post is the one that gives away the bit. The prayer hands, the fire, the laughing face. He’s having a blast. Whatever you think about French immigration policy (and the posts he’s resharing obviously have a strong view), Costa’s contribution was to treat a city in turmoil like a highlight reel he gets to commentate. “France is the new Palestine” arrived with no explanation at all, which is either a hot take he couldn’t be bothered to defend or a line he figured would get the most replies. Either way it was engagement bait wearing a political costume.
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Costa’s provocative-post streak has been a running thing, and plenty of fight fans enjoy the chaos. I’ve laughed at Borrachinha before and I’ll probably laugh at him again. Sunday was different. The Paris posts were him dunking on a crowd of strangers from a phone, and the Rubio tag was him asking the government to settle a speech argument for him. A real villain punches up and then shows up.
His last post of the day landed at 6:19 p.m. GMT, roughly three and a half hours after the first one. He had a whole afternoon to cool off, and he went with the fire emoji.
