"He's not the real deal, he just likes to bully short guys" - Paulo Costa answers if he'll fight Khamzat Chimaev to secure Israel Adesanya rematch
Khamzat Chimaev and Paulo Costa were involved in an incident earlier this week at the UFC Performance Insitute. 'Borz' confronted 'Borrachinha' over comments made by the Brazilian towards Chimaev in a press conference some time ago. Since the altercation, fans have been calling for a fight between the Chechen and Costa to happen down the line.
'Borrachinha' was even asked about a possible matchup with Chimaev by Henry Cejudo when he visited the UFC PI. Cejudo asked Costa if a win over 'Borz' would help him get another fight for the middleweight belt against Israel Adesanya and he replied with:
"This is a easy fight to do, easy money, easy hype. Gourmet Chechen, the gourmet Chechen. He is not the real deal, he just like to bully short guys, smaller guys than him like Burns. When he saw me, he saw me he was like fearsome."
Watch the interview below:
With Khamzat Chimaev unable to make the welterweight limit this weekend, a permanent move to middleweight could be on the cards. In which case, a fight with Paulo Costa would be easier to organize if both fighters, as well as the UFC, were interested in doing so.
Khamzat Chimaev says he is here to fight and not "cut weight and die in the bath"
Khamzat Chimaev missing weight has caused the UFC to go into overdrive to save the UFC 279 pay-per-view. A reshuffling of the card now sees Chimaev faceing off with Kevin Holland, and Tony Ferguson taking on Nate Diaz.
Megan Olivi interviewed 'Borz' following the weight-cutting debacle and the scuffle with Holland this week, and asked Chimaev if the fight with 'Trailblazer' was one he had expected to be made in the future.
'Borz' replied with
"For me it doesn't matter, I fight everyone. So for me, I'm not here to come on and cut weight and die in the bath. So, I'm here to fight you know, I want to fight with everybody. So now I'm going up we will see what the guys are gonna do."
Watch the interview below from 1:10 :
Khamzat Chimaev will hope to put this week's drama behind him quickly as he prepares for a last-minute change of opponents. But, with 'Borz' and Holland having previous run-ins with each other, both fighters are probably licking their lips in anticipation of going at it in the octagon.