Paulo Costa is finished chasing Khamzat Chimaev.
A middleweight grudge match between Costa and Chimaev was scheduled to happen this previous October at UFC 294, however Costa was compelled to withdraw on account of an elbow an infection. Chimaev blasted Costa for the withdrawal and now Costa is firing again, accusing Chimaev of being the one who has ceaselessly missed out on fights.
“He must cease operating,” Costa stated in an interview with Submission Radio. “He must have balls to face me. For a very long time, very long time, this man simply avoids these fights. He has no balls. If the man’s not pushing him, he has no balls to struggle him. He needs to struggle simple fights, he doesn’t need to struggle guys like me or [Robert] Whittaker or any person else like that. He needs to struggle guys with no wrestling, no jiu-jitsu recreation, no grappling, one thing like that. No balls.”
Chimaev as an alternative went on to struggle former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in a middleweight bout at UFC 294, the place he eked out a majority resolution win. Costa was later booked to struggle former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 298. Whittaker defeated Costa by resolution in a three-round thriller.
Previous to preventing Whittaker, Costa scoffed at revisiting the Chimaev fight, however he sees it as a risk now after falling again into the loss column.
“It’s potential within the close to future,” Costa stated. “If I had gained, I’d not need to struggle him, however proper now it is sensible as a result of I misplaced.”
As of now, Costa is eyeing a struggle with Usman, the person who just lately stepped in for him in opposition to Chimaev. Usman signed up for that struggle on simply 10 days’ discover and despite the fact that he fell brief on the playing cards, he confirmed indicators that he might compete at 185 kilos following a dominant run at welterweight.
Costa has nothing however respect for Usman’s expertise and thinks the bout may very well be a step in the direction of one among them getting again on monitor.
“I feel he’s coming from a loss as properly, I got here from a loss,” Costa stated. “Me and him have to put a win within the data. I feel he already did the whole lot that he confirmed to do at welterweight, so I feel it’s time. He’s not so younger as properly, I feel he’s 37, 36, I don’t know, someplace round that. I feel it’s time for him to maneuver to middleweight.
“He did as soon as in opposition to Chimaev, ‘Gourmand Chen Chen,’ nevertheless it was not the entire course of, he simply acquired brief discover and got here as much as middleweight weighing like a welterweight. So I feel this struggle is sensible and he’s a strong man. He has totally different expertise on the bottom, wrestling expertise, takedowns, and putting, I feel it’s the struggle to make and to place one among within the line once more to the highest.”
