Paulo Costa to ‘Boost’ Vintage Rivalry with Visit to Chicago While Khamzat Chimaev Stretches War of Words

Khamzat Chimaev continued his war of words with Paulo Costa after bold UFC 318 PPV post-fight callout, dismissing his claims of texting first.

Paulo Costa to ‘Boost’ Vintage Rivalry with Visit to Chicago While Khamzat Chimaev Stretches War of Words

Paulo Costa and Khamzat Chimaev animosity is at full power (Source: X)

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Don’t call it a comeback; ‘vintage’ Paulo Costa, who went 5-0 in his early UFC days did not lose a step. The fighter just needed his tune back, and he did at UFC 318. While everyone was glued on Dustin Poirier’s retirement fight, one of the biggest storylines on the lineup was Costa’s pivotal match. Having bagged that win, the middleweight star is now taking the challenge up to rival Khamzat Chimaev.

Paulo Costa had plans to call out the rival after he won, and that he did with curse words. The middleweight from Brazil dropped and outstruck talented Russian striker Roman Kopylov en route to a decision victory at the UFC 318 PPV co-main event.

‘Borrachinha’ was tapped to stardom by UFC CEO Dana White in 2018, but managed to log only two wins in seven years. However, he has had potential and needed to make a statement comeback at all cost. Kopylov was unranked, but a legitimate striking threat to defeat an out of form Brazilian star.

However, while he cannot weigh in as a championship backup, his resolve is there. With the No.1-ranked backup fighter Nassourdine Imavov pulling out for a different challenge, Costa can’t really take up the spot by a miracle. Still, the Brazilian fighter means to boost this rivalry with a visit to Chicago for the next numbered card.

I was locked in, 100 percent focused on this, on this…fight [before looking ahead]. Yes, I plan to do that [attend UFC 319]. I plan to do that. If the UFC allows me, I will be there in Chicago in a few weeks.

Paulo Costa said during UFC 318 PPV post-fight backstage fighter interviews

‘Borz’ cemented his title shot with a grotesquely violent Round 1 face-crank over middleweight legend Robert Whittaker. Still undefeated, Khamzat Chimaev will challenge for gold at the UFC 319 PPV main event at the United Center in Chicago.

The animosity isn’t all that one-sided, either. For long, Costa has said the Chechen fighter preemptively texted fight rep and his better half, Tamara Alves, to badmouth him. Chimaev continued his war of words with a different take on the matter.

Costa did not dedicate much time to the Chechen’s remark; he simply called it a lie when media scrum brought it up during his press conference. For now, there’s no end to this rivalry and the UFC must capitalize on the heated rivarly.

The Brazilian star had mostly kept his full attention on the dangerous Kopylov in recent months, who was a hungry prospect rather than a vet. During UFC 318 fight week, he revived his feud with Khamzat Chimaev and stretched it in his in-cage mic time with Daniel Cormier.

Now, he plans to follow suit on recent trends and be front row at UFC 319. One thing that visually works highly in his favor is his performance this weekend. It is something that many are taking notice of.

‘Historian of War’ Jon Jones impressed by kick-heavy Paulo Costa during UFC 318 PPV matchup

Ex-UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones is a take-your-time but ‘practice makes perfect’ kind of guy. Unsurprisingly, he often also takes notice of big cards and PPV events. ‘Bones’ kept close watch on Paulo Costa’s return and tweeted throughout the UFC 318 PPV co-main event.

GOAT Fighter leads praise on 'Freak' Paulo Costa
GOAT Fighter leads praise on ‘Freak’ Paulo Costa (Source: X)

After watching Costa score a heavy knockdown in mid Round 1, Jones was blown away by Costa’s kicking prowess.

Damn Costa’s kicks are looking freaking deadly tonight.

Jon Jones via X

Jones started fight commentary after the first five-minute frame and at the end, billed that this was the best version of ‘Paulo Costa’ in a long while. Bones himself is a fan of practicing his range-management and swivel/spinning kicks, which have found him success a lot. Hence, he liked what he saw from the popular Brazilian fighter.

Costa dominated round three, logging his first competition victory since outpointing Luke Rockhold at UFC 278 PPV back in 2022. While he is projecting the Khamzat Chimaev rivalry to come true, Costa will have to keep this newfound momentum one way or the other to make that matchup.

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