"You don't need to call somebody to help you" - Paulo Costa addresses Khamzat Chimaev bringing up Israel Adesanya's post-fight humping celebration
UFC middleweight Paulo Costa has responded to Khamzat Chimaev after the Chechen-born fighter referred to Israel Adesanya's humping celebration following his TKO victory over the Brazilian back in 2020.
Ahead of Chimaev's UFC 279 bout this weekend, 'Borrachinha' posted a video on YouTube of himself and 'Borz' exchanging some heated words at the UFC Performance Institute (PI) in Las Vegas. The pair were separated by a cage and their teams. While there was no physical altercation, the Brazilian expressed an interest in fighting 'Borz' if he can defeat Nate Diaz on Saturday.
At UFC 279's media day, the 28-year-old welterweight was asked about the altercation with Costa and whether or not he'd be interested in fighting him. Chimaev insisted that he has no interest in fighting the 31-year-old Brazilian because Adesanya has already "f****d his a**."
RIP https://t.co/KmGBze2Qs5
In an interview with TheMacLife, Paulo Costa responded to Chimaev's comments and the fact that he brought up Adesanya's celebration on the Brazilian fighter:
"It's just what he has to do. He has to try and put somebody on this. I have my business to do and I will face him very soon. Listen, [Khamzat] Chimaev, you don't need to call somebody to help you, just me and you. I know you're scared. Shut up, do your things, go to fight the smaller guys because you cannot handle me."
Catch Paulo Costa's full interview here:
Former UFC fighter Jake Shields gave his breakdown of the altercation between Khamzat Chimaev and Paulo Costa
In a recent interview with 'The Schmo', Jake Shields, a former Strikeforce middleweight champion, gave an insight into what really happened at the PI between Paulo Costa and Khamzat Chimaev.
Shields was training with 'Borrachinha' and the pair had been working on the mats with routine drills. The 43-year-old then explained that out of nowhere, Chimaev appeared with his team and started talking smack to Costa:
"I was working out with Paulo... and out of nowhere Khamzat runs over and starts talking s**t to Paulo. He has like 10 dudes with him and starts speaking, 'Let's fight now.' So, Paulo hops up, runs at him... I don't know him [Costa] that well but I'm like, 'I'm not letting you get jumped, I got your back.'"
Shields then added that he believes Khamzat Chimaev has no intention of fighting Paulo Costa, stating that he thinks it was for the media attention:
"He ran out of nowhere and started talking c**p, but he didn't run in the cage. If he actually wanted to fight, he would've jumped in the cage. Instead, he wanted to talk c**p from the outside. So I think it was more of like marketing, so he can be like 'I'm crazy, I'll fight anyone.' Without actually fighting anyone."
Catch the full interview with 'The Schmo' here: