Paulo Costa is completed chasing Khamzat Chimaev.
A middleweight grudge match between Costa and Chimaev was scheduled to happen this previous October at UFC 294, however Costa was compelled to withdraw as a consequence of an elbow an infection. Chimaev blasted Costa for the withdrawal and now Costa is firing again, accusing Chimaev of being the one who has regularly missed out on fights.
“He must cease working,” Costa stated in an interview with Submission Radio. “He must have balls to face me. For a very long time, very long time, this man simply avoids these fights. He has no balls. If the man’s not pushing him, he has no balls to struggle him. He needs to struggle straightforward fights, he doesn’t need to struggle guys like me or [Robert] Whittaker or someone else like that. He needs to struggle guys with no wrestling, no jiu-jitsu sport, no grappling, one thing like that. No balls.”
Chimaev as a substitute went on to struggle former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in a middleweight bout at UFC 294, the place he eked out a majority determination win. Costa was later booked to struggle former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 298. Whittaker defeated Costa by determination in a three-round thriller.
Previous to preventing Whittaker, Costa scoffed at revisiting the Chimaev fight, however he sees it as a risk now after falling again into the loss column.
“It’s potential within the close to future,” Costa stated. “If I had gained, I might not need to struggle him, however proper now it is smart as a result of I misplaced.”
As of now, Costa is eyeing a struggle with Usman, the person who not too long ago stepped in for him towards Chimaev. Usman signed up for that struggle on simply 10 days’ discover and regardless that he fell quick on the playing cards, he confirmed indicators that he may compete at 185 kilos following a dominant run at welterweight.
Costa has nothing however respect for Usman’s abilities and thinks the bout might be a step in the direction of one in every of them getting again on monitor.
“I believe he’s coming from a loss as nicely, I got here from a loss,” Costa stated. “Me and him must put a win within the data. I believe he already did every thing that he confirmed to do at welterweight, so I believe it’s time. He’s not so younger as nicely, I believe he’s 37, 36, I don’t know, someplace round that. I believe it’s time for him to maneuver to middleweight.
“He did as soon as towards Chimaev, ‘Connoisseur Chen Chen,’ however it was not the entire course of, he simply received quick discover and got here as much as middleweight weighing like a welterweight. So I believe this struggle is smart and he’s a strong man. He has completely different abilities on the bottom, wrestling abilities, takedowns, and placing, I believe it’s the struggle to make and to place one in every of within the line once more to the highest.”
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