"Gourmet Chen Chen is completely hidden" - Paulo Costa responds to Robert Whittaker looking for a February UFC comeback
Fresh off of elbow surgery, Paulo Costa has seemingly grown frustrated with Khamzat Chimaev and is now angling for a different fight.
Costa, who was scheduled to fight Chimaev at UFC 294 before announcing on social media he had come down with an infection that would require surgery weeks before the event. He has since continuously called for the fight to be re-booked on social media until recently shifting his attention towards Robert Whittaker.
Responding to an Instagram post from Whittaker, Costa simultaneously took another shot at Khamzat Chimaev while asking to fight the former champion in early 2024.
Paulo Costa tweeted:
"Gourmet Chen Chen is completely hidden. Whittaker is looking for a fight? I fight in February"
The former title challenger's tweet came just minutes after he tweeted a screenshot of Robert Whittaker's Instagram post, which was captioned:
"Getting that itch, just need a date.."
Whittaker was included in the caption '#feb2024,' indicating that he is targeting a return in three months. Costa did not hesitate to agree to the timeline.
Did Paulo Costa fight Robert Whittaker?
Amid the callout from one former middleweight title challenger to another, the UFC matchmakers have twice previously targeted a fight between Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa.
The pair were booked to fight in 2021 before Costa pulled out and targeted again for UFC 284, but the second attempt fell through due to inconclusive pay negotiations on the Brazilian's side. Costa has long been advocating for a raise, an issue that also caused a potential fight with Ikram Aliskerov to get scrapped.
It is unclear if Costa is all in on the Whittaker callout or if he is using it as another attempt to pursue Khamzat Chimaev. Chimaev was victorious at UFC 294, beating Kamaru Usman by majority decision in a supposed title eliminator.
In spite of Costa's long tenure in the UFC, 'Borrachinha' does not have a win over any fighter currently in the UFC. The Brazilian's last win came against Luke Rockhold at UFC 278.