Tag: Paulo Costa

Photo – Social media leak suggests Khamzat Chimaev is in line to fight Jared Cannonier in UFC 294 return

khamzat chimaevKhamzat Chimaev now appears to be facing former middleweight title challenger, Jared Cannonier. Following making quick work of Kevin Holland in September of 2022, it seemed that Chimaev would be ready to make a quick return to the octagon. However, 10 months on and the 29-year-old has nothing booked after being linked with several opponents […]

khamzat chimaev

Khamzat Chimaev now appears to be facing former middleweight title challenger, Jared Cannonier.

Following making quick work of Kevin Holland in September of 2022, it seemed that Chimaev would be ready to make a quick return to the octagon. However, 10 months on and the 29-year-old has nothing booked after being linked with several opponents from 170-185lbs.

With documented issue making weight, Chimaev’s next step is a little more difficult than it should be, had he made weight for his cancelled bout against Nate Diaz. ‘Borz’ has bounced between the two weight classes, but his best chance at winning a UFC title appeared to be at welterweight given his natural size and strength advantage at the division.

For a while, it appeared that he would in fact be making the jump to middleweight to face Paulo Costa, in what would have been a highly intriguing contest given Costa’s athletic ability. Then, Chimaev was linked to a bout with former champion, Kamaru Usman, with the pair going back-and-forth most recently as yesterday.

While both Usman and Chimaev seemed keen for the fight, it now seems that Chimaev will return against a top middleweight.

Khamzat Chimaev’s next potential opponent leaked

Thanks to post by one of Chimaev’s coaches, Azamat Dugulubgov, and some crafting fans, it now appears that his next opponent will in fact be No.3 ranked middleweight, Jared Cannonier.

Dugulubgov posted to Instagram a photo of a UFC fight with the fighters blurred out, captioning it – “Already studying the next opponent for the Borz.”

Leaked Khamzat Chimaev opponent

It didn’t take long for fans to make comparisons to previous fights, and it appears to match up perfectly to a fight between Cannonier and Kelvin Gastelum.

Gastleum is currently booked against Shavkat Rakhmonov after moving back down from middleweight. A fight between Cannonier and Chimaev had also been discussed after the ‘Killa Gorilla’ had been asked about the fight following his recent win over Marvin Vettori.

Who wins, Khamzat Chimaev or Jared Cannonier?

Paulo Costa vows to ‘Expose’ Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294: ‘See you soon, little insecure weirdo’

Paulo Costa vows to expose Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294 insecure little weirdoDespite the fact he is yet to be booked to fight the undefeated, Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294 in October, middleweight contender, Paulo Costa has vowed to “expose” the Chechen-born contender in Abu Dhabi, UAE, ahead of his return later this month. Costa, the current number six ranked middleweight contender, has been sidelined since he […]

Paulo Costa vows to expose Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294 insecure little weirdo

Despite the fact he is yet to be booked to fight the undefeated, Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294 in October, middleweight contender, Paulo Costa has vowed to “expose” the Chechen-born contender in Abu Dhabi, UAE, ahead of his return later this month.

Costa, the current number six ranked middleweight contender, has been sidelined since he featured on the main card of UFC 278 back in August of last year, snapping a two-fight losing skid to Israel Adesanya, and Marvin Vettori – with a unanimous decision win over former division champion, Luke Rockhold.

Slated to make his return to the Octagon at UFC 291 at the end of this month in Salt Lake City, Utah, Brazilian fan-favorite, Costa is slated to take on soon-to-be common-foe, Ikram Aliskerov on the main card of the Delta Center event. 

As for Chimaev, the 12-0 welterweight contender has himself yet to return to the Octagon since co-headlining UFC 279 back in September of last year, stopping Kevin Holland with a first round D’Arce choke submission win.

And expected to feature at UFC 294 in October in a return to the Middle East, Chimaev has welcomed a bout with former welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, and has notably been linked to a middleweight division bow against recent big-winner, Jared Cannonier at the October event.

Paulo Costa takes aim at long-standing rival, Khamzat Chimaev

However, as far as Belo Horizonte native, Costa appears to be concerned, he is in line to fight Chimaev in October, labelling him a “little insecure weirdo”.

“Haha loll look at this,” Paulo Costa tweeted. “Gourmet Chen Chen – me and u knows I’m going to Abu Dhabi to expose you badly and u know that. You got scared since I meet u in UFC PI, @jakeshieldsajj was there too. See u soon, little insecure weirdo.” 

Alex Pereira blasts Paulo Costa after he mocked his training ahead of UFC return: ‘I became champion’

Alex Pereira blasts Paulo Costa over training footage I became a champion UFCAhead of his Octagon return at UFC 291 later this month, Alex Pereira appears to have taken umbrage with his compatriot, Paulo Costa, after the latter mocked footage of him training alongside the outspoken, Dillon Danis this week. Pereira, the current number one ranked middleweight contender and former division champion, is slated to make his […]

Alex Pereira blasts Paulo Costa over training footage I became a champion UFC

Ahead of his Octagon return at UFC 291 later this month, Alex Pereira appears to have taken umbrage with his compatriot, Paulo Costa, after the latter mocked footage of him training alongside the outspoken, Dillon Danis this week.

Pereira, the current number one ranked middleweight contender and former division champion, is slated to make his light heavyweight divisional move at UFC 291 at the end of this month, taking on Polish veteran, Jan Blachowicz in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Sao Paulo native will share that high-profile pay-per-view card alongside his Brazilian counterpart, Costa, with the one-time middleweight title challenger taking on the highly-touted prospect, Ikram Aliskerov. 

And ahead of his divisional move, footage has emerged of Alex Pereira training alongside Bellator MMA welterweight and decorated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, Danis – leading to a rather mocking and candid response from Belo Horizonte native, Costa.

“Jesus its (sic) not looks (sic) good,” Paulo Costa tweeted.

In reply to his compatriot, Alex Pereira, a former two-weight champion under the banner of GLORY Kickboxing, tweeted, “With this kind of training I became champion.” 

Both Alex Pereira and Paulo Costa have shared the Octagon with Israel Adesanya

Both facing Israel Adesanya during their Octagon tenures, Pereira snatched middleweight gold from the City Kickboxing staple back in November of last year with a rallying final round standing TKO win, before dropping the crown in an immediate rematch last April – courtesy of a thunderous second round KO loss.

Himself facing Adesanya during his first title reign back in October 2020, Costa suffered a one-sided second round TKO loss to the Nigerian-Kiwi in Abu Dhabi, UAE. 

With Pereira and Costa featuring at UFC 291 later this month, the Brazilian duo will take stage before a mouth-watering lightweight rematch between former interim division champions, Dustin Poirier, and Justin Gaethje – with the pair competing for the returning symbolic BMF championship to boot. 

Sean Strickland calls out ‘Dirty Brazilian’ Paulo Costa for refusing to fight: ‘What the f*ck happened?’

Sean StricklandSean Strickland (26-5 MMA) has given his side on how his next matchup against Abus Magomedov (25-4-1 MMA) came together. Strickland’s bout against Magomedov is now set for July 1st and will be his second appearance in the Octagon in 2023.  The 32-year-old’s latest outing was a win against another unranked UFC prospect, Nassourdine Imavov (12-4 MMA) in […]

Sean Strickland

Sean Strickland (26-5 MMA) has given his side on how his next matchup against Abus Magomedov (25-4-1 MMA) came together.

Strickland’s bout against Magomedov is now set for July 1st and will be his second appearance in the Octagon in 2023. 

The 32-year-old’s latest outing was a win against another unranked UFC prospect, Nassourdine Imavov (12-4 MMA) in what was the first main event of 2023.

‘Tarzan’s’ convincing unanimous decision victory over Imavov was a much-needed confidence boost following his controversial loss to Jared Cannonier in 2022. 

Although Sean Strickland was unable to get the finish, his performance was impressive enough as he displayed the difference in competition between the top 15 and the rest of the UFC middleweights.

Sean Strickland wanted a middleweight showdown against Paulo Costa

Despite Strickland’s eagerness to stay active in the UFC, the California native expressed it hasn’t been easy finding his next dance partner. 

In a recent interview with ‘Helen Yee Sports’, Sean Strickland explained that the UFC was going to put him on ice for a few months if he didn’t take the fight against Magomedov. However, he claims that the UFC tried to find him an opponent within the top 10 but they turned the fight down. 

“The UFC came to me and they said ‘Sean, there’s- we asked a couple of top 10 guys, they said no,’ the UFC asked them, they said no, so they said ‘We’re going to be benching you for six to eight months until somebody opens up or you fight this guy [Magomedov],’” Strickland exclaimed.

“I said ‘UFC, that’s f***ed up but I like the fight, I like to make money,’ I like to make money so I said yes.”

Further on in the interview, Strickland suggested a fight against fan favorite, Paulo Costa (14-2 MMA) was the fight the UFC was looking to materialize. 

Nevertheless, Strickland disclosed that the matchup never manifested, adding that the failure to get the fight booked was due to negotiation issues between the UFC and Costa. 

“It should’ve been that dirty Brazilian Paulo Costa,” Strickland stated.

“Costa, me and you, we should’ve done the f***ing man dance, I don’t know what the f**k happened dude… Me and Costa dude, we should’ve been f***ing fighting, we should’ve been fighting dude, but you’re too busy playing games with the UFC being a f***ing woman, and now you take this f***ing great fight that could’ve happened and you f***ing ruined it. Costa, you ruined it.” 

For MMA fans this will seem like a missed opportunity. Considering the outrageously unpredictable personalities of both Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa, the build-up to a fight between the two would certainly be must-watch television.

Instead, both competitors will find themselves against some of the UFC’s newly touted 185lbs prospects, with Costa also penciled in to go toe to toe with Ikram Aliskerov (14-1 MMA) at UFC 291, on July 29th.

Do you think Sean Strickland vs. Paulo Costa will ever happen in the UFC?

UFC star Paul Costa made light of Gabi Garcia’s domestic abuse allegations with inappropriate joke

Gabi GarciaWomen’s mixed martial artist Gabi Garcia has publicly accused her husband of domestic abuse. Garcia, an undefeated fighter and accomplished Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner, recently took to Instagram claiming that her husband, Bruno Almeida, had been physically abusive throughout their relationship. “The time has come. It’s time to be brave and tell everyone why I’ve been […]

Gabi Garcia

Women’s mixed martial artist Gabi Garcia has publicly accused her husband of domestic abuse.

Garcia, an undefeated fighter and accomplished Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner, recently took to Instagram claiming that her husband, Bruno Almeida, had been physically abusive throughout their relationship.

“The time has come. It’s time to be brave and tell everyone why I’ve been away for the past two years,” Garcia said. “They were the worst years of my life, but I’ll show all the details at the end of this week. I didn’t think this could ever happen. That someone could be so bad. A criminal. A person who has commited crimes before and after he was with me. A person who has money and asked for pension, my purses, my earrings. Asking for my house. Using the name Garcia.”

“Married, with a son and using my last name. A person who says she is a child of God, who went to my wedding and wrote ‘God bless you’ is still his lover,” Garcia added. “Because that guy won’t divorce me. Even with a restraining order and the Maria da Penha law (A Brazilian law created to protect women who were victim of domestic violence) by my side, he didn’t stop. There are 19 cases of fraud on my credit card, closed my accounts in three different banks. I would get home to no water, no power. He took the money from my payments.

“I had to go to court to prove that I’m the owner of my own house. He lied to his lawyer by saying that it was rented. He asked for my Chanel earrings, my purse collection, pension. He had people intimidating me. Job? He doesnt’ have one. He lives on allowance from his mother. I’m posting everything. We have to believe in the law. My parents have depression, I can’t leave my house. I still have to put a finish to some wars, though. I’ll tell my fans every single detail so I can help women who have been abused,” Garcia concluded.

Paulo Costa Makes Light of Gabi Garcia’s Horrifying Situation

After pouring her heart out on social media, fans and fighters rallied around Gabi Garcia and showed their support for the Brazilian combat sports icon. Unfortunately, not everyone had something nice to say. Enter Paulo Costa, the UFC’s self-appointed comedian. Costa has developed a reputation over the last year for taking clever cracks at his co-workers. For the most part, they are genuinely humorous and relatively light-hearted, but ‘The Eraser’ appears to have stepped over the line this time.

In response to Gabi Garcia’s story, Costa tweeted out an image of the especially jacked Brazilian and asked, “Who the hell was her husband, Thanos?”

Gabi Garcia primarily competed under the RIZIN banner in Japan but she has been absent from the MMA scene since 2018 after going 6-0 to kick off her career. Garcia has remained active in submission grappling, most recently competing at the ADCC world championships last year.

Sadly, Gabi Garcia is the second female fighter to come out about the abuse she suffered at the hands of a man she once loved and trusted. Rising contender Mackenzie Dern also opened up about her experience with domestic violence following a decisive win over Angela Hill last month.

Paulo Costa promised to return to form in UFC 291 comeback fight: ‘We finally got him dialled in’

Paulo Costa touted to return to form at UFC 291 we finally got him dialled inSlated to make his return to the Octagon at UFC 291 at the end of July, former middleweight championship challenger, is now “dialed in” to the sport again – according to promotional president, Dana White, ahead of a fight with Ikram Aliskerov.  Costa, the current #5 ranked middleweight contender, is set to feature on the […]

Paulo Costa touted to return to form at UFC 291 we finally got him dialled in

Slated to make his return to the Octagon at UFC 291 at the end of July, former middleweight championship challenger, is now “dialed in” to the sport again – according to promotional president, Dana White, ahead of a fight with Ikram Aliskerov. 

Costa, the current #5 ranked middleweight contender, is set to feature on the main card of UFC 291 on July 29. at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah – taking on Dana White’s Contender Series alum, Aliskerov in a rather surprising matchup for the Belo Horizonte native.

Recently agreeing terms on a reportedly lucrative, new multi-fight deal with the organization, Brazilian contender, Paulo Costa most recently featured on the main card of UFC 278 in August of last year – snapping a run of two consecutive losses in a unanimous decision victory against former undisputed division champion, Luke Rockhold.

Paulo Costa has laughed off confirmation of his fight with Ikram Aliskerov at UFC 291

Despite scoffing and laughing at White’s confirmation of his return against Aliskerov at UFC 291 in July, Costa has been referred to as “dialled in” now amid the re-upping of his new deal by White, nevertheless. 

“I think that every fighter we deal with is different in certain ways,” Dana White told Ag Fight during a recent interview. “Some are easy, some are tougher, but that’s our job. That’s what we do. Our job is to get deals done, and we finally got him (Paulo Costa) dialled in, and it will be fun to see him fight in Utah.”

“His last fight with (Luke Rockhold) was awesome, it was an incredible war,” Dana White explained. “It’s one of those fights that if you were there live that night or watching on TV, it’s a fight you’ll never forget. So, he’s fun to watch. It’ll be good to have him back.” 

During his Octagon tenure, Paulo Costa has landed victories over the likes of the above-mentioned, Rockhold, as well as former welterweight champion, Johny Hendricks, Uriah Hall, and former middleweight title challenger, Yoel Romero.