Paulo Costa and Khamzat Chimaev have a history. The duo was supposed to fight at the hyped UFC 294, but Costa’s shoulder injury and staph infection forced him to withdraw from the match. Kamaru Usman had to step up on a 10-day notice to face ‘Borz’. Chimaev struggled for a bit against Usman but in the end, it was ‘Borz’ who tasted the victory. However, the struggle has raised some eyebrows from the MMA community and Paulo Costa is one of them.

At UFC 298, fans eagerly anticipated the comeback ͏of Paulo Costa. ͏’Borrachinha’ faced the Australian sensation Robert Whittaker. Despite delivering a masterful performance, Costa came up short in his return bout. In a recent interview, when Costa was asked about the possibility of facing͏ Chima͏ev in his next bout but he strongly criticized the Chechen for taking easier fights.

Paulo Costa doubles down on his bad blood with Khamzat Chimaev

Paulo Costa and Khamzat Chimaev have been going at each other for years now. The talks for their fights started in 2022, but they came to fruition in 2023. However, destiny had some other plans and Costa had to withdraw. Fast forward to 2024, both the fighters are in good health and a fight between them seems palpable, but are they ready to face each other?

Costa recently had a conversation with the “Submission Radio” podcast. When the host asked him about his thoughts on a matchup with Chimaev, Costa stated that he was ready to face the Chechen – “It’s possible in the near future, you know? If I had won, I would not want to fight him. But right now, it makes sense because I lost”

Costa further emphasized that Chimaev as a fighter looks for easy fights – “He[Khamzat Chimaev] needs to stop running; he needs to have the ba**s to face me. Yes, for a long time, this guy has just avoided this fight. He has no balls, you know? If the guys don’t push him, he has no balls to fight me. He wants to fight easy fights; he doesn’t want to fight guys like me, [Robert] Whittaker, or somebody else like that. He wants to fight guys with no wrestling, no jiu-jitsu game, no grappling, you know? Something like that.”

A match-up between the duo might sell as hotcakes for the UFC, but the happening of the fight is at the mercy of Dana White. Interestingly, Paulo Costa is interested in another fighter as well.

Costa is looking at Kamaru Usman as next potential fight

Kamaru Usman’s debut at the UFC 294 in the middleweight division was not bad. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ took the fight at a 10-day notice, and showcased tremendous skills despite that. Paulo Costa is now interested in having a taste of the former welterweight champion.

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Through his X (formerly Twitter) handle, ‘Borrachinna’ took center stage to call out Kamaru Usman for a fight. Costa wrote, “Usman 185 lbs looks interesting. Gourmet Chen Chen couldn’t finish him even on short notice. I might.” Costa lost his bout against Whittaker after a spectacular showing and a fight between Usman and Costa now seems possible.

However, as mentioned above, everything is at the mercy of the UFC CEO. What’s your opinion about a fight between Paulo Costa and Kamaru Usman?

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