Despite being scheduled to fight Robert Whittaker at UFC 298, Paulo Costa is still keen on settling his long-running feud with Khamzat Chimaev, and hopes to face him in a title defense if he wins the middleweight championship.
Paulo Costa is prepping for a showdown with Robert Whittaker. But, his mind is still on Khamzat Chimaev.
The feud between Costa and Chimaev is no secret. It was supposed to be settled at UFC 294. But, life had other plans.
Costa had to step back due to an injury. Chimaev ended up facing Kamaru Usman, a former UFC welterweight champ. He won, but not everyone was convinced.
Now, Costa is gearing up to face Whittaker at UFC 298. He spilled the beans on why he’s fighting the ex-champ instead of Chimaev on The MMA Hour.
He said, “I was trying to fight Gourmet Chen Chen — Chimaev. But, since I couldn’t, he fought Kamaru. He won, but didn’t convince anyone. Not me, not the people I talk with, and most of the fans, I think.”
Costa continued, “I wasn’t convinced he’s the guy, No. 1 contender. So, I kept pushing for that fight. But, the UFC guys said he’s not going to fight until June or July. So, I had to move. They said, ‘We have Whittaker.’ I said OK, let’s go.”
The public feud between Costa and Chimaev has been going on for over a year. It started with an altercation before UFC 279. Costa and Whittaker have also been potential opponents for years, with two previous bookings. Now, they’re finally going to face off.
Costa thinks a title shot could be next if he wins. He said, “We never know, but I’m supposed to be the No. 1 contender. Either me or Whittaker, whoever wins, I think. Whittaker is coming off a loss, but this is an interesting fight. The situation at middleweight right now is to decide who is going to be next in line.”
In 2020, Costa fought for the middleweight title but lost to Israel Adesanya at UFC 253. If he’s right this time, he’ll face the winner of the Sean Strickland–Dricus du Plessis matchup. And if he wins the title, there’s only one fight he wants for his first title defense: Chimaev.
“My dream fight is for the belt against Chen Chen,” Costa said. “I have no question about one fight, one matchup against Chimaev. I can bet everything on me. I’m so confident in that fight.
“This should happen, it has to happen. But they cannot force [him]. You don’t know how much everybody from the UFC forced, they actually forced Khamzat to fight me in Abu Dhabi. He [turned is down] three times last year. They put him in the corner and said, ‘OK, so you’re going to fight no one if you don’t fight Paulo.’ They made him a very good contract, like $2 million, to sign this deal. But Allah saved him. God saved him, just for now.”
But first, Costa has to get past Whittaker at UFC 298. He’s confident that the former middleweight champion is just a stepping stone for his dreams.
“I think I’m going to catch him, punches or kicks, I don’t know,” Costa said. “But I have a feeling I’m going to get him on some movement that he cannot see, and he’s going to sleep.”
UFC 298 is scheduled for Feb. 17 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. It’s headlined by a featherweight title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria.