Paulo Costa does not mince words, particularly when it comes to Khamzat Chimaev. As the UFC buzzes with anticipation of a spectacle on the White House grounds, ‘The Eraser,’ ahead of his UFC 318 fight, has already made his bid for a spot. “Chimaev,” Costa said without hesitation. “This son of a b—-. I want to fight this guy. I want to fight. It has to happen.” For Costa, this is more than just a dream matchup; it’s personal.

The hatred between the two middleweights has been simmering for years, leading to a memorable verbal spat at the UFC Performance Institute in 2022. Costa had just defeated Luke Rockhold and was on a high, while ‘Borz’ was carving his path. Though the two almost came to blows during the confrontation, ‘The Eraser’ has now alleged that the real heat came behind closed doors.

So what was the cause? Well, it’s all about a message. A DM, to be specific. Khamzat Chimaev sent one to his girlfriend instead of Costa. “Then they called to finalize the deal, but I had surgery on my elbow,” Costa told Ariel Helwani on The Ariel Helwani Show.

The UFC 318 fighter revealed, “That same week, he sent a message to my girl, Tamara. He acted like a woman. He treated her… he said some bad stuff. I remember he said something like, ‘I’m going to beat your husband, and I’m going to do bad things… this, that, and that.’ But he sent it to her, not to me.” Costa saw it as a breach, not just disrespect.

“So I said, why is this guy sending messages to my girlfriend? It makes no sense,” he said, visibly upset as he recalled the episode. The moment changed the dynamic of the rivalry from competitive to explosive. ‘The Eraser’ had been attempting to book the fight for years, but this crossed a line. “This is something that pisses me off, and I want to settle it in the cage. Bring it to the cage.”

While Khamzat Chimaev has mostly ignored Costa’s repeated calls, his actions have simply fueled the fire. Despite the UFC’s reported attempts to make the matchup materialize, Costa claims ‘Borz’ has “always said no.” That, along with personal attacks towards Tamara in her direct messages, has turned what might have been a high-octane middleweight match into potentially one of the most personal feuds in the UFC.

And now that both men are back in action, with Costa facing Roman Kopylov at UFC 318 and Chimaev vying for the title at UFC 319, the timing may finally be right. However, there is an added emphasis on the “may” part of the sentence. But why?

Khamzat Chimaev might retire at UFC 319

The biggest obstacle to Paulo Costa’s vengeance may not be a loss on July 19 or even a UFC matchmaking delay; it might be Khamzat Chimaev walking away completely. Rumors are circulating in the MMA community that Chimaev may retire if he wins the middleweight title at UFC 319 next month.

Rising contender Caio Borralho is among those adding to the hype, believing Chimaev has no long-term ambitions for title defenses and may retire from the fight game with the belt in hand. If accurate, this would be the most anticlimactic conclusion to one of the UFC’s most heated rivalries.

Costa, already enraged from DMs and years of mistreatment, would be left with no payoff. While he wants to settle things for good inside the cage, there may be no cage to settle it in if ‘Borz’ hangs up his gloves. And for someone who has been chasing this fight for over two years, that kind of exit may hurt more than another loss on the record.