ARTICLE AD BOX
The tension between the two fighters, who have been revolving around each other for years, continues to simmer. It all started way back in 2022, when the then welterweight Khamzat Chimaev burst into Paulo Costa's training at the UFC's Performance Institute. Then the situation almost ended in a physical confrontation, but the staff managed to separate them.
From that moment on, things only got more serious. Shortly after the incident, Chimaev missed the scales for the match against Nate Diaz, so he had to move to the middleweight division - where Costa was already somewhat famous. The UFC tried to match them up for UFC 294, but the Brazilian had to cancel due to a nasty elbow infection. Since then, each has gone his own way – while the 33-year-old has lost to Sean Strickland and Robert Whittaker, his rival has been winning in succession, including Kamaru Usman and the aforementioned Whittaker.
"He has to fight me"
However, despite their careers going in different directions, the former title challenger still believes that the fight has to happen. Ahead of his fight against Roman Kopylov on July 19 at UFC 318, he made no secret of what was on his mind.
- If God gives me this victory, I will call him out. I will call that son of a bitch, that fucking coward to fight. He has to fight me. I have to fight him - said the great fighter in an interview with Ariel Helwani.
He went on to accuse Chimaev of hiding for years.
- The UFC has been trying to arrange this fight for a long time, but Khamzat always says no. He always says he wants to fight anyone up to 84 kilograms, but not me. He avoids me - the Brazilian emphasized.
As if all this were not enough, he also stated that his rival once sent a message to his wife after he canceled the fight.
– I hope it wasn't a McGregor-style message – he said with a laugh, recalling other similar incidents from the MMA world.
If Costa manages to defeat the Russian, and Chimaev suffers a defeat in the title match at UFC 319 – the fight that the 33-year-old wants so much could finally happen.
English (US) ·