Paulo Costa and Khamzat Chimaev have been getting on each other’s nerves ever since ‘Borz’ made the move to the 185 lbs division. They’ve hardly ever missed a chance to throw verbal punches at each other. They were even going to fight at UFC 294 to settle things. But the highly anticipated fight didn’t happen because Costa was hurt. Kamaru Usman came in later to rescue the card. The animosity between them hasn’t gone down at all since then. 

‘The Eraser’ is all set to make his return to the Octagon in the UFC 318 co-main event against Roman Kopylov. The Brazilian will be looking to get back in the win column after back-to-back losses to Robert Whittaker and Sean Strickland. But this fight isn’t just about bouncing back. It’s also about sending a message. Costa recently revealed that his two-year beef with Chimaev just got personal, and now, he’s fired up to make a statement. So without further ado, let’s dive into what went down!

Did Chimaev actually dm Costa’s girlfriend? What was said?

Paulo Costa is usually a very lively person. He never hesitates to talk about how he aims to beat his opponents. He seemed more excited as normal during the UFC 318 media day, though. Why? Costa claimed that Khamzat Chimaev, who’s set to face Dricus du Plessis at UFC 319 in August, allegedly sent some inappropriate messages to his girlfriend, Tamara Alves, on Instagram.

‘Borrachinha’ stated during the UFC 318 media day, “I want to fight [Chimaev] very badly. I want to hurt him. It doesn’t matter if he won that fight or not. It doesn’t matter. We need to fight. He talk very bad things about me, nasty, in my girl’s Instagram DMs, so this is totally personal.”

Well, that left everyone wondering—what exactly happened that led Chimaev to slide into Paulo’s girlfriend’s DMs? And naturally, fans were curious about what was said in those messages. The former middleweight title challenger eventually cleared the air, revealing that ‘Borz’ allegedly told his girlfriend she “deserves a better man” than Costa.

He added, “Dirty things. Like, ‘You should look for a better man,’ something like that. Not the kind of things a real man, a confident man, would do. Why’d he message her? Why didn’t he message me instead?” With that, Costa didn’t hold back! Calling Chimaev a “coward” multiple times and making it clear that a fight needs to happen to settle things once and for all.

That’s a heated, emotional, and direct challenge from Costa. And to make things even more interesting, Khamzat Chimaev has clapped back with some fiery words of his own—so yeah, the rivalry is on! However, there’s one thing worth noting that Costa hasn’t provided any solid proof so far to back his claims that the Chechen native sent DMs to his girlfriend. And that’s where this beef starts to raise a big question!

Does any of this mean something? Is the fight ever actually going to happen? Now that we’ve gone through the backstory, let’s dig into whether this controversy could finally turn into a grudge match.

What does the controversy mean for a future Costa vs Chimaev fight? 

At this point, a fight between Khamzat Chimaev and Paulo Costa could easily sell out an entire arena, because there’s just that much heat between them. But if you think they’re going to end up fighting soon? Well, judging by the current circumstances, it’s looking a little tough to make that matchup happen anytime soon.

‘The Eraser’ is motivated to make a statement against Roman Kopylov at UFC 318, with his eyes already set on a future clash with Chimaev. But matching them up anytime soon won’t be easy. Costa is currently on a two-fight losing streak, even though both were against former champs. He’s sitting at #13 in the rankings and taking on the #14 contender. 

So even if Costa wins, he will still need at least two more good wins to go up the ladder before he can really call out “Borz,” who is presently the favorite to win the belt versus Du Plessis. Even so, Khamzat could still lose to “DDP,” and the UFC might still book the grudge battle. But Costa has one clear job to do before any of that can happen. He has to beat Kopylov in the co-main event of UFC 318.

Israel Adesanya has also recently opened the door to a potential rematch with Costa since their clash at UFC 253, and that’s another exciting option on the table. But again, the real question is! Can Costa work his way back to those big-name fights? What do you think the road looks like for the Brazilian middleweight? Let us know in the comments below!