Paulo Costa explains how Dana White and co. had to pressure Khamzat Chimaev to take UFC 294 fight: "He always said no"
Paulo Costa felt his Khamzat Chimaev fight booking around this time last year was not an easy task to accomplish for Dana White and UFC higher-ups. UFC 294 was supposed to feature a consequential middleweight matchup between Costa and Chimaev that alas did not transpire last October.
On Jake Shield's YouTube channel, Costa spoke about life in his home country, his efforts learning English, and UFC 294, among other topics.
When touching on the difficulties in the lead-up to UFC 294, Costa said:
"This fight was so hard to get because he [Chimaev] always said no. So UFC, Hunter [Campbell], maybe Dana [White], I don't know but Hunter I'm sure, he push him. [Hunter] say ok, if you didn't fight Paulo in Abu Dhabi, you fight no one. Nobody anymore, you know? You're gonna stay until the next year [laughs]. He can't come or something like that. I think he had problems on document."
Check out Paulo Costa discussing the behind-the-scenes journey to UFC 294 below (11:47):
What happened with Paulo Costa at UFC 294?
Paulo Costa and Khamzat Chimaev did not end up fighting at UFC 294 after health issues scrapped the bout. Costa had an elbow infection close to the fight that took him off of last year's Abu Dhabi-based card.
The 33-year-old did not fight at all in 2023 but went on to have a pair of fights this year. His first outing saw 'Borrachinha' fall short in February against Robert Whittaker at UFC 298 when he was bested via unanimous decision in the pay-per-view co-main event.
The Minas Gerais native would go on to fight another former kingpin of 185 pounds in the UFC this year to a fairly similar result. Costa lost to Sean Strickland at UFC 302 in June but would this time be defeated by way of a split decision in another pay-per-view co-headliner.
As for Chimaev, he would go on to fight former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman at UFC 294 when Costa withdrew. This saw Chimaev win via majority decision. It was a statement win last Oct. 21 but Chimaev has not entered the cage since. 'Borz' had a June 2024 fight vs. Robert Whittaker fall through after he fell ill.
The possible middleweight title eliminator has since been rebooked for the UFC 308 pay-per-view co-main event as Chimaev vs. Whittaker is set to go down on Oct. 26.