Paulo Costa and Khamzat Chimaev have quickly, and randomly, become the most intriguing of rivals.
As UFC 279 on Sept. 10, 2022, drew near, Chimaev was scheduled to battle Nate Diaz in a Welterweight main event. During that fight week, a lot of chaos unfolded, including a brief UFC Performance Institute run-in between “Borz” and Costa.
Nothing ever came of the spat, aside from some insults hurled in each other’s directions, but now Costa is interested in settling things in the Octagon. Chimaev, on the other hand, has already shared why he doesn’t find that necessary.
“Chimaev, because he’s on [a] high, I stole some of his high,” Costa told The MMA Hour. “I stole his sleep, I stole his cap, I stole his main event fight. I stole everything.
“Chiamaev, you need to do something, motherf—ker,” he continued. “I stole everything that you had. Your hat, I stole your night’s sleep, I stole your weigh-in. You are disturbed, so crazy. ‘I cannot do this, I will die.’ So I think I need to fight that guy.”
Chimaev wound up missing out on his bout with Diaz after badly missing weight the day prior. Therefore, leading to Kevin Holland being shuffled in to fight Chimaev in the co-main event while Tony Ferguson took the headliner slot.
Both Diaz and Chimaev won against their new opponents, and now their paths are looking vastly different. Diaz is on his way out of the promotion while Chimaev’s ability to make 170 pounds is in question. For Costa, there’s no chance of making Welterweight, so he hopes the undefeated Sweden resident makes a return to 185 pounds
“For sure, [he missed weight because of me],” Costa said. “Because he became so angry, so stressed, and he almost — he gave up. He gave up. He missed the weight for almost eight pounds, almost nine.
“He gave up, for sure,” he concluded. “I stole everything from him. Hype, soul, night of sleep, main event, his hat — do something.”