Khamzat Chimaev is a wanted man at 185 pounds. That’s according to one of his previously scheduled opponents, Paulo Costa, anyway.
The undefeated 13-0 Chimaev has been one of the most dominant fighters in recent memory, which has led to him becoming a shoo-in favorite to hold Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) gold someday regardless of weight class. After a strong run at Welterweight, Chimaev returned to Middleweight in his last time out, where he was supposed to collide with Costa at UFC 294 in October 2023.
Unfortunately for Costa, a nasty staph infection on his elbow forced him out of the brewing grudge match with “Borz.” Chimaev, 29, instead went on to fight the former Welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, and won a hard-fought majority decision. Chimaev is now expected to await the winner of the upcoming Middleweight title fight between the champion, Sean Strickland, and top contender, Dricus Du Plessis, at UFC 297 next weekend (Sat., Jan. 20, 2024). Meanwhile, Costa still hopes he can fight Chimaev one day, ideally with the title on the line after it didn’t materialize initially.
“My dream fight is for the belt against ‘Chen Chen,’” Costa said on The MMA Hour. “I have no question about one fight, one match up against Chimaev. I can bet everything on me. I’m so confident in that fight.
“This should happen, it has to happen,” he continued. “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 it down] three times last year. They put him in the corner and said, ‘Okay, 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.”
A Chimaev vs. Costa clash will have to wait for the immediate future as Costa will first have to get through another former champion. Next in the Brazilian knockout artist’s way will be one-time Middleweight kingpin, Robert Whittaker, as the two meet at UFC 298 next month (Sat., Feb. 17, 2024).
The fight will act as Whittaker’s rebound attempt after a tough upset loss to the aforementioned Du Plessis at UFC 290 in July 2023 (watch highlights). Costa will get back on a winning streak with a win over Whittaker after he last defeated Luke Rockhold via unanimous decision at UFC 278 in August 2022 (watch highlights). Although Whittaker and Costa have also been linked together in the past, and is a No. 1 contender bout to Costa’s knowledge, “Borrachinha” was always hoping to rebook the Chimaev pairing above all else
“I was trying to fight ‘Gourmet Chen Chen’ — Chimaev,” Costa said. “I was trying. Since I could not fight, and he fought against Kamaru — he won, but he didn’t convince anyone I don’t think, me and the people I talk with, at least, and most of the fans I don’t think. I was not convinced he’s the guy, No. 1 contender. So I keep trying that fight, pushing for that fight. ‘Okay, guys, let’s make this fight happen,’ and what [UFC Chief Business Officer] Hunter [Campbell] and the UFC guys said he’s not going to fight until June or July or something like that. So then I needed to move. They said, ‘We have Whittaker.’ I said ‘Okay, let’s go.’”