"Can he actually hold him down?" - Paulo Costa's improvements in wrestling will give Khamzat Chimaev a run for his money, says Henry Cejudo

UFC welterweight Khamzat Chimaev is looking to make his move to the middleweight division permanent by taking on a top-ranked contender in Paulo Costa at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi.

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Former UFC bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo weighed in on the upcoming fight and raised questions on Chimaev's transition to middleweight, especially against a massive middleweight like Paulo Costa.

“I love this matchup. I mean I think this matchup is going to be the next person that more like is probably gonna get the title fight at 185 pounds. Khamzat Chimaev, a guy with tenacity, a guy that loves to grapple, a guy that loves to throw hands. He is going up to middleweight against a real middleweight, a big middleweight. The biggest challenge that somebody like Khamzat Chimaev is going to have a guy like Paulo is could he take this dude down. Could he take this dude and could he actually hold him down?”

Cejudo then referenced Chimaev's thriller of a fight against Gilbert Burns at UFC 273, the only fight in 'Borz's UFC career that went the distance. He said:

“At one point, Khamzat Chimaev did struggle to take down Gilbert Burns and he also did get clipped with Gilbert Burns. Khamzat Chimaev has not gone five rounds. I don’t believe this is a five round fight but he hasn’t gone past three rounds… What other tricks does Khamzat have other than his grappling?”

Check out Henry Cejudo's full comments on YouTube below:

Colby Covington reacts to Paulo Costa vs Khamzat Chimaev, calls them 'biggest jokers'

UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington reacted to the announcement of Paulo Costa vs Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294.

Covington is clearly not a fan of either fighter as he wrote them both off as unserious competitors. In an interview with Submission Radio, Covington argued as to why he was different or favored by the UFC citing his consistency.

"Dude let’s just see if they can get to the cage first. Those guys are some of the biggest jokers in the sport. Just complete fakes, frauds. You know like, that’s why someone like me, I’m in the good graces with the UFC, I show up every time. They call me on 2 days notice for London to be back up fighter, I’m going out there I’m cutting 6 – 18 pounds, a company man, I show up every time, I’m professional."

It is interesting to note that Colby Covington last fought over a year ago against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272. Khamzat Chimaev has fought twice since then while Paulo Costa has fought once.

Check out Covington's comments below:

.@ColbyCovMMA isn’t sold on Chimaev/Costa actually happening at #UFC294!

“let's just see if they can get to the cage first. Those guys are some of the biggest jokers in the sport”

🎥: youtu.be/7-MAOiGfdwo pic.twitter.com/Ckvs5sBWAZ