“Mr. Telephone Man, there’s something wrong with my line. When I dial ‘The Eraser’s’ number, I get a ‘click’ every time.”
No rest for the weary … especially when some prankster keeps calling them at all hours of the night.
UFC middleweight contender Paulo Costa is doing his best to prepare for the UFC 294 pay-per-view (PPV) event later this month in Abu Dhabi — while simultaneously healing from elbow surgery — but someone from the Khamzat Chimaev camp is going out of their way to make those preparations as difficult as possible.
“We were in the (hotel) lobby together. We were outside in the parking lot, they were in the lobby. I mean, tensions were high because the last time they saw each other at the UFC PI, you guys saw what almost went down,” coach Eric Albarracin told The MMA Hour (transcribed by MMA News). “You know, with the biggest fight in UAE history going down in two weeks, what is the reason why three weeks ago we’re staying at a hotel with no security?”
Long before they were booked to collide in Abu Dhabi, Costa and Chimaev were embroiled in a heated altercation at the promotion’s Performance Institute in Las Vegas, just days ahead of the UFC 279 extravaganza in “Sin City.” In the months that followed, both combatants kept their rivalry alive on social media.
“After that happened, people started calling us in the middle of the night, waking us up. So, there’s just been some sabotaging going on on his end, trying to keep us with the jet lag,” Albarracin continued. “But it’s not gonna work because this time we came out super early to right what was wrong, what happened last time we came out here to Abu Dhabi. ‘Secret Juice Costa’ now, he’s cold, he’s calculated. He’s recalibrated, he’s reformulated. He’s smarter than ever. This time in Abu Dhabi, we’re getting that title shot.”
Costa (14-2) spent all of 2023 on the sidelines, having last seen action at UFC 278. “The Eraser” took home a unanimous decision victory over former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold. Similarly, Chimaev (12-0) has not competed since his first-round submission victory over Kevin Holland at UFC 279 last fall, a welterweight bout that ended in disaster when “Borz” blew up the scale.
The winner could find themselves atop a short list of 185-pound title challengers.