Paulo Costa has business with Khamzat Chimaev, and he doesn’t care if it’s handled inside the Octagon or in the street.
On August 16, ‘Borz’ will finally get his long-awaited title opportunity when he meets reigning middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319 in Chicago.
As it stands, Chimaev is a 2-to-1 favorite to leave Chi-Town with the 185-pound crown wrapped around his waist. But win or lose, ‘The Eraser’ plans on fighting the undefeated Chechen monster, one way or another.
“If Khamzat retires after losing—I would find him somewhere to fix my business, maybe a restaurant or a parking lot,” Costa told Submission Radio. “This is personal.”
Khamzat Chimaev reacts to Costa’s UFC 318 callout
Costa’s issue with Chimaev stems from an incident where ‘Borz’ sent a DM to the Brazilian’s longtime girlfriend. Following his vintage performance against Roman Kopylov at UFC 318, Costa used his post-fight interview to call out Chimaev for the slight.
“Everybody knows I hate that guy, everyone knows that m*********** Chimaev,” Costa said.
“He’s a big a******, and my wife is over here, he DMed her. This is not good, this is a bad thing. But he never sent them to me, because he’s a coward. Chimaev, I’m going to show you why you’re a coward. I am here, I’m going to look for you, chase you, and I will not stop until I get you!”
It didn’t take long for Chimaev to snap back at Costa on social media.
“It was she who wrote me habibi [LAUGHS],” Chimaev wrote on X.
Costa’s win over Kopylov moved him up two spots in the middleweight rankings, where he now sits at the 11th-ranked contender. Chimaev is the third-ranked contender going into his first title tilt.
