WATCH: Paulo Costa LOLs at Khamzat Chimaev featuring on AI-generated list of best-looking UFC fighters
Paulo Costa recently reacted to news that he had ranked higher than Khamzat Chimaev on a list of the UFC's best-looking fighters generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Costa hilariously proclaimed himself the "best-looking fighter ever" or the "BLF" of the promotion before doubting the validity of the rankings.
Costa is booked for a middleweight fight against Sean Strickland at UFC 302 this weekend. The event will go down at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and will be headlined by an Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier lightweight title clash. Ahead of the event, Costa participated in the UFC 302 media day event.
During his presser, Costa was told that an AI-generated list had him as the No.2-ranked best-looking fighter in the UFC, preceded only by Conor McGregor. Costa was then informed that he had beaten Strickland and asked if he was happy about it. 'Borrachinha' replied:
"I'm happy because I beat Strickland, but I'm 'BLF,' best-looking fighter ever. What's going on? I think this AI is not so good."
Soon after, Costa was told that Chimaev was ranked No.13 on the list. Given the intense rivalry between the two, it's no surprise that the Brazilian burst out laughing and dismissed the Chechen-born fighter's spot entirely. It's noteworthy that Costa and Chimaev almost came to blows at the UFC PI during an altercation.
Speaking about Chimaev's ranking on the list, Costa said:
"He's out of the list. Come on."
When Paulo Costa named Khamzat Chimaev as his "dream" fight
It's no secret that there's no love lost between Paulo Costa and Khamzat Chimaev. The two had to be held back from throwing blows during their infamous altercation before UFC 279 in Sept. 2022 and have fired insults at each other online several times in the aftermath.
Given their rivalry, the promotion booked them for a fight at UFC 294. However, Costa was forced to pull out of the contest due to a bursitis infection. Chimaev then faced Costa's short-notice replacement Kamaru Usman and defeated the former welterweight champion via majority decision.
After recovery, Costa was booked against Robert Whittaker at UFC 298 in February. During a pre-fight interview with Ariel Helwani, Costa addressed missing out on Chimaev as an opponent and expressed confidence about getting his hand raised in that fight. He said:
"My dream fight is for the belt against Chen Chen [Chimaev]. I have no question about one fight, one matchup against Chimaev. I can bet everything on me. I’m so confident in that fight."
Catch Paulo Costa's comments below (15:50):