Paulo Costa vows to stop Khamzat Chimaev’s unbeaten run and end his hype.
Costa (14-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) takes on Chimaev (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) in a middleweight bout Oct. 21 at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi.
Chimaev has competed at both welterweight and middleweight throughout his career but will look to zero in on a title shot if he can get past former 185-pound title challenger Costa. But Costa, who showed off his ripped physique, said Chimaev is in trouble.
“Gourmet Chen Chen has no chance, zero, no chance,” Costa said in a social media post (h/t The Mac Life). “I’m going to destroy him – dead man walking. Dead man walking right there in Chechnya. I come to f*ck you in your f*cking house, motherf*cker. Training hard every single day, I have no days off. Look at this face, look at this face. Look right here, gourmet Chen Chen: the man who is going to kill you.
I’m your bigger NIGHTMARE. BLF is coming to erase you 🧢🧁 gourmet Chen Chen pic.twitter.com/RIn8k2Dgem
— Paulo Costa ( Borrachinha ) (@BorrachinhaMMA) July 24, 2023
Costa hasn’t competed since outlasting Luke Rockhold in a bloody Fight of the Night war at UFC 278. He was linked to a matchup with Ikram Aliskerov for Saturday’s UFC 291 main card in Salt Lake City, but was pulled and matched up with Chimaev instead.
Chimaev will also return after more than a year away. His most recent win came in a 180-pound catchweight bout at UFC 279, where he quickly submitted Kevin Holland.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 294.