Paulo Costa’s head coach, Eric Albarracin, believes Khamzat Chimaev and his team are playing some dirty tricks.
Costa is set to collide with Chimaev on the main card of UFC 294 on October 21. This middleweight grudge match has been highly-anticipated ever since the two had a heated confrontation at the UFC Performance Institute last year. Ahead of the 185-pound showdown, Albarracin claims Chimaev’s camp has done all they can to try to sabotage the fight.
Paulo Costa’s Coach Says Khamzat Chimaev Is Playing Foul
Paulo Costa and Eric Albarracin both appeared on “The MMA Hour” recently. Albarracin explained why he feels Chimaev’s team has been trying to sabotage the UFC 294 fight.
“We were in the lobby together,” Albarracin said. “We were outside in the parking lot, they were in the lobby. I mean, tensions were high because the last time they saw each other at the UFC PI, you guys saw what almost went down. The whole world saw that, 10 million people saw that video. So, with the biggest fight in UAE history going down in two weeks, what is the reason why three weeks ago we’re staying at a hotel with no security? After that happened, people started calling us in the middle of the night, waking us up. So, there’s just been some sabotaging going on, on his end trying to keep us with the jetlag, but it’s not gonna work. This time, we came out super early to right what was wrong what happened last time we came out here to Abu Dhabi.”
Sabotage or not, Costa will need to be at his best to stop the surging “Borz” on fight night. Chimaev has been on a tear thus far with a pro MMA record of 12-0. The only time Chimaev has gone the distance was when he had a “Fight of the Night” banger with Gilbert Burns last year.
Here is the video of Paulo Costa’s appearance on “The MMA Hour:”
