Khamzat Chimaev already has his next opponent locked in, but he finds himself firmly affixed in the proverbial crosshairs of a former UFC middleweight title challenger. Chimaev prepares to fight reigning 185-pound kingpin Dricus du Plessis for his middleweight crown in the headliner of UFC 319 on August 16th. With ‘Borz’ having his next fight at UFC 319, a victorious combatant from UFC 318 wants Chimaev after his DDP clash in Chicago, regardless if he becomes the new champion or not.
Khamzat Chimaev
Speaking to Submission Radio, Paulo Costa covered several subjects on the heels of his pay-per-view co-main event victory over Roman Kopylov by way of a unanimous decision on July 19th. ‘The Eraser’ did not mince words when offering up his thoughts on the undefeated professional MMA fighter who surges toward a middleweight title shot in the coming weeks when Paulo Costa said.
“Khamzat is a coward. He has no courage to ever talk to me directly or look me in the eyes. People need to understand that or at least that he fears my presence.”
“I met Khamzat once when I was training with my brother Jake Shields. He came friendly, but I realized immediately what kind of person he is. I told him if he wants to fight, let’s fight—don’t talk.”
Khamzat Chimaev and the time he almost fought Paulo Costa
Khamzat Chimaev and Paulo Costa have left to be locked inside of the octagon against one another but there was a time that they were scheudled to do battle. This was initially slated to take place at UFC 294 in October 2023 but alas, Chimaev vs. Costa was not destined to take place in the Fall of 2023.
An elbow infection that the Brazilian combatant was dealing with eventually led to Costa withdrawing from the intriuguing middleweight matchup with Chimaev eventually going on to fight and subsequently defeat former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.
