“He needs to stop running!” Paulo Costa BLASTS Khamzat Chimaev for running away from real competition

Paulo Costa critiques Khamzat Chimaev for avoiding difficult matchups.

“He needs to stop running!” Paulo Costa BLASTS Khamzat Chimaev for running away from real competition

Paulo Costa trolls Khamzat Chimaev for not fighting him (Via Imago)

The beef between Paulo Costa and Khamzat Chimaev is far from over. The two have gone back and forth, trolling each other for over a year. The UFC even booked a grudge match to settle the beef. Despite two attempts, the fight never materialized. Now, ‘Borrachinha’ claimed Chimaev didn’t dare to face him.

In his recent interview with Submission Radio, Paulo Costa revealed the current situation with Khamzat Chimaev. He allegedly claimed Borz avoided the fight with him and did not have much courage. Here is what he said:

He (Khamzat) needs to stop to run. He need to have balls to face me. For a long time, this guy just avoided this fight, he has no balls... He want to fight easy fights, he doesn’t want to fight guys like me and Whittaker. He wants to fight guys with no wrestling, no jiu-jitsu game, no grappling.
Paulo Costa (via Submission Radio)
YouTube video

Khamzat Chimaev and Paulo Costa were set to fight in UFC 294, but the fight ‘Borrachinha’ pulled out. He suffered an infection in his elbow and underwent surgery just days before the fight. As such, Chimaev fought the late replacement Kamaru Usman. Chimaev secured a majority decision win. This incident contradicted Costa’s accusations, as Chimaev certainly agreed to fight him. Also, ‘Borz’ fought a wrestler in Usman as a replacement.

FS Video

After this cancellation, Paulo Costa returned to face Robert Whittaker in UFC 298. Despite giving Whittaker trouble throughout the fight, Costa lost on the judges’ scorecards. Now, he eyed a matchup with Kamaru Usman. There is a possibility of Costa wounding up to fight Chimaev after all.

Paulo Costa wants to fight Kamaru Usman next

UFC 298 saw the return of Paulo Costa after almost 18 months. However, the result didn’t go his way, as he lost to Robert Whittaker via unanimous decision. In his recent tweet, he showed interest in a matchup with former champion Kamaru Usman. As such, he also took a shot at Khamzat Chimaev, who previously fought Usman. Now, he reasoned his callout to Usman in his interview with the Submission Radio.

Paulo Costa wants to fight Kamaru Usman next
Paulo Costa wants to fight Kamaru Usman next (Via Verdict MMA/The Independent)

Paulo Costa stated the matchup with Kamaru Usman made sense since both suffered a loss in their last bout. Further, he looked at Usman’s welterweight career and felt a move up to middleweight would serve him well. Here is what he said:

He comes from a loss as well, I comes from a loss. Me and him need to put a win in the records. He already did everything he should have done in welterweight. I think it’s time, he’s not so young as well, so I think its time to him to move to middleweight. He did it once against Chimaev. I think this fight make sense.
Paulo Costa (via Submission Radio)

Kamaru Usman fought Khamzat Chimaev at middleweight in his last bout. Since then, confusion prevailed about his permanent weight class. As such, Paulo Costa took the opportunity to properly welcome Usman to middleweight, given he took the fight with Chimaev on short notice. Whether the UFC makes this fight is to be seen.

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