When Khamzat Chimaev competes against Paulo Costa at UFC 294, which will take place later this year in Abu Dhabi, it will be the long-awaited return of Chimaev to the octagon. Even though the fight has been signed and formally announced, ‘Borrachinha’ is under the impression that his opponent does not want to compete against him.
In an interview with Ariel Helwani of The MMA Hour, the middleweight fighter rated seventh stated:
“I really, really want that battle. I want that fight very much, and I want it very much. Dana is very interested in winning that bout. That fight is what the audience wants, but Chimaev doesn’t want it. Chimaev has no interest in engaging in that fight. He exerted a lot of effort in an attempt to attract other men, including as Leon Edwards, Belal Muhammad, and Kamaru Usman, to fight, but he did not compete at 170. He planned to compete at 185 pounds. He was attempting to get some lighter guys up to 185 pounds so that he could avoid fighting an actual 185-pounder.
Below are some statements that Paulo Costa has made regarding Khamzat Chimaev:
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“He was trying to pull up some lighter guys to 185 [pounds] and not fight a genuine 185er,” the commentator said. “He was unsuccessful.”
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Following the brawl that took place between the two fighters at the UFC Performance Institute in September of last year, Costa has spent a significant portion of the past year working toward booking a fight with Chimaev. Some fans are beginning to question whether or not the fight will actually take place because both combatants will have been inactive for more than a year by the time it comes around to their bout.
Watch the confrontation between Khamzat Chimaev and Paulo Costa in the video that is provided down below:
Paulo Costa says the winner of his bout against Khamzat Chimaev will receive title shot
Since his defeat to Israel Adesanya at UFC 253, which occurred over three years ago, Paulo Costa has only one victory to his name. In the meanwhile, Khamzat Chimaev does not yet have a victory over a middleweight opponent who holds a ranking. Despite this, “Borrachinha” recently revealed that the victor of their fight at UFC 294 will be the next contender for the middleweight title.
The middleweight now ranked seventh in the world made the following statement during a recent interview on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani:
“The winner of this fight is going to fight for the belt, so it’s important for me to win this fight so I can move on to the next one.” To begin, because it’s going to be an exciting battle… The second motive has to do with financial gain. The third justification is that whoever [wins] will then be in line for a shot at the championship after that.”
See what Paulo Costa has to say about contending for the championship in the video that follows (beginning at the 30:13 mark):
In addition, Costa stated that he is unsure as to whether or not the winner will go up in weight class to compete for the middleweight title. Adesanya has stated that he intends to make a title defense at UFC 293, where the event will take place. On the other hand, ‘The Last Stylebender’ disclosed the fact that Dricus Du Plessis did not participate in the combat.
Adesanya then went on to challenge Sean Strickland, although there has not yet been a formal announcement made regarding the match between the two.
