In the midst of a stunning 12-fight undefeated professional run, unbeaten welterweight contender, Khamzat Chimaev has been backed to remain perfect in his expected fight with one-time middleweight title challenger, Paulo Costa ahead of their earmarked UFC 294 clash in October on ‘Fight Island’.
Yet to book an Octagon return since co-headlining UFC 279 back in September of last year, Chechen-born contender, Khamzat Chimaev has been widely tipped to fight Belo Horizonte native, Costa at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi, UAE in the third week of October, in a potential title-eliminator at the middleweight limit.
Landing at the same venue back in 2020, Chimaev has enjoyed a dizzying roughshod run through contenders at the welterweight limit, propelling himself to the #3 rank in the division to boot.
Going hammer and tongs with the promotion since returning to the winner’s enclosure at UFC 278 back in August of last year, Costa is expected to put pen to paper on a new, multi-fight deal with the Dana White-led promotion in the comings weeks – in a deal which has been touted as making him the best-paid Brazilian under contract in the UFC.
Khamzat Chimaev Octagon Return
However, in terms of an Octagon return against Khamzat Chimaev before the close of the year at the Etihad Arena, Costa has opened as a sizeable betting underdog (+290) to defeat Chimaev (-340) in their earmarked middleweight matchup. Full list online casinos using GCash offer endless markets on sports including combat, ahead of what promises to be a blockbuster year in the professional realm.
Sidelined since UFC 279 last September, Khamzat Chimaev most recently extended his promotional-perfect run to six fights, submitting Kevin Holland with a first round D’Arce choke submission at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Retaining his top-3 rank at the welterweight limit despite a difficult cut to the division in the past, the AllStars MMA staple had turned in a unanimous decision victory over recent winner and incoming UFC 288 co-headliner, Gilbert Burns back in April of last year.
As for Costa, the one-time title challenger managed to snap a two-fight skid against both Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori back in August of last year against the above-mentioned former champion, Rockhold – securing a unanimous judging victory.
Costa was expected to fight former champion, Robert Whittaker at UFC 284 back in February of this year in Perth, Australia – the Brazilian denied ever putting pen to paper on a deal to fight the former gold holder, leading to a public spat with the organization.
Without a main event slot for UFC 294 at the time of publication, undisputed lightweight kingpin, Islam Makhachev has been earmarked to return to the Octagon potentially in October – after earning a period of rest from the UFC, according to reports, could potentially take main event honors.
The Dagestan native recently headlined UFC 284 back in February, defending his lightweight title against Alexander Volkanovski, and has been linked to a title rematch against former gold holder, Charles Oliveira next, as well as a fresh pairing with Iranian contener, Beneil Dariush before the end of this year.