The middleweight division may have a new champion after UFC 319, but Paulo Costa wasn’t overly impressed by the performance delivered by Khamzat Chimaev this past weekend.
Chimaev achieved what felt like a long-awaited and inevitable coronation when he entered his first career title tilt against the now-former champion Dricus du Plessis this past Saturday in Chicago. As usual with “Borz,” it was another pillar-to-post domination that dethroned du Plessis via a unanimous decision.
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Although he wasn’t in attendance like several other UFC middleweight contenders, Costa watched the action at UFC 319 closely and was far from entertained by Chimaev’s lopsided beatdown.
“This is a show. This is entertainment,” Costa told Uncrowned during Monday’s in-studio appearance on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “This kind of fight, and fighter, has a lot of potential to kill this business.
“This surprised me after, because at the press conference after the fight, [UFC CEO] Dana [White] was [saying], ‘OK, he did amazing.’ No, he didn’t, man. He did horrible. This is horrible for the watchers. This is not good. People will watch something else. They will not watch these guys hugging each other for 25 minutes.”
Costa, 34, recently bounced back with a vintage performance of his own to snap a two-fight skid, taking a unanimous decision over Roman Kopylov in UFC 318’s co-main event in July. The performance kept the Brazilian in contention as a player in the 185-pound division. He currently sits in the UFC’s rankings as the No. 12 middleweight contender, with hopes to ascend toward a second career title opportunity.
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Regarding Chimaev, the pair have been at odds since they were scheduled to collide at UFC 294 in 2022. Costa ultimately suffered a nasty infection in his elbow that required surgery shortly before the bout, leading to Chimaev defeating Kamaru Usman in a short-notice majority decision as a replacement fight.
Costa’s recent first step toward regaining momentum has him as confident as ever that he can be the first to defeat Chimaev, even after watching such a high-level trouncing of a world champion.
“He dominated Dricus, but he could not do the same thing that he used to do against welterweights, like maul the guys, finish the guys,” Costa said of the new champ. “When he faces a real middleweight, a really heavy middleweight, he’s going to have some problems. He’s going to look boring. All the other fights, they were exciting fights because the guys couldn’t hang with him, even [Robert] Whittaker. Whittaker is a kind of fast, super high-level, but not strong enough to stop a guy like him. Dricus is a real middleweight, in my opinion, because he came from, I don’t know, maybe 230 pounds to fight at 96 kilos (211 pounds) on fight day. That’s what I do.
“I know how to handle these guys. Remember my fight against [Yoel] Romero? Romero is a high-level wrestler, and very good also. He couldn’t put me down. He tried four or five times, [and took me down] once at the end of the second round, 10 seconds left to finish, but he couldn’t keep me there. The same when I fight Khamzat — the same is going to happen. He could not hold me down. Even if he takes me down, I don’t think I’m going to stay on my feet the whole time against him. I think he can put me down, but he can not keep me there.”
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Costa specifically highlighted examples of Chimaev’s positioning against du Plessis, such as when the new champ repeatedly found the crucifix position against “DDP.” While nearly inescapable, Costa saw Chimaev as using the technique more to “drain” the South African rather than finish the fight.
In the past, Costa has generally performed well against wrestlers — and he punctuated his latest sentiments with a warning. Should the two eventually get rebooked for a fight, it will be personal for Costa.
“Motherf***er, look — you know who I am. I’m coming for you,” Costa said to Chimaev. “You can hide as much as you want. I know how to fight you. You’re going to rush, as you always do. You’re going to do your s*** thing. You’re going to shoot on my legs. I know that, I expect that, I’m ready for that. But then, guess what? We have five rounds. I’m going to [make] you pay for every time you shoot on my legs. That’s what my coach Eric [Albaraccin] taught me to do. I’m going to make you pay. Then, when we’re back on the feet, I’m going to hurt you so badly you want to give up, but I will not let you give up. I will hurt you until the referee stops the f***ing fight.
“I’m coming for you. I will defeat you.”
