Paulo Costa isn’t happy with Khamzat Chimaev receiving a middleweight title shot following his win against Kamaru Usman.
At UFC 294, Chimaev secured a majority decision win in the co-main event. ‘Borz’ was initially supposed to fight Costa, but the latter pulled out with an elbow injury, leading to Usman stepping in on less than a two-week notice.
Although he wasn’t able to fight, Costa showed up and sat ringside while ‘Borz’ and Usman went to war in the Octagon.
Following UFC 294, ‘Borrachinha’ sat down with MMA Junkie and had this to say about Chimaev’s performance:
“The fight was horrible. Khamzat Chimaev looks horrible. Three rounds of horrible. He fought a 170 guy from short notice. The guy who don’t even fight at 185. Usman is a legit 170. Khamzat tried to finish him in the first round, he couldn’t. Then he gets out. Then I truly believe Usman beat him for the next two rounds. So what can I say about that, bro? He looked terrible.”
Paulo Costa also voiced his frustration for not being able to fight at UFC 294:
“I became a little bit sadder than before because I just thought if I was there, I could’ve finished this motherf*cker easy. Easy money. He’s easy money. He’s so green. He’s an immature fighter. He put all his energy in the first round. If he cannot finish the guy, he’s done. I truly believe if Usman had just a couple more weeks of training, like two more weeks in his fight camp, he could’ve beat him. I actually believe at least he got a draw.”
Paulo Costa believes Khamzat Chimaev needs to defeat a ranked middleweight before earning title shot
Before UFC 294, Dana White announced the winner between Paulo Costa and Khamzat Chimaev would receive the next middleweight title shot.
Now that Chimaev has emerged victorious, several fighters believe he doesn’t deserve the opportunity, including Costa, Dricus Du Plessis, and Sean Strickland.
During the previously mentioned interview with MMA Junkie, Costa had this to say about Chimaev getting a title shot:
“Either way, I think Khamzat needs to fight a legit middleweight fighter to have a chance for fight for the belt. He gonna direct to the belt? He didn’t even fought a middleweight yet. Why? So, it don’t make sense to me, right?”
Paulo Costa continued by calling out Khamzat Chimaev for a fight in December:
“I’m right here. Why not? [Me vs. Chimaev] is the fight the people want to see. He needs to fight a legit 185 before going to the title shot. He’s not even a champ or top three in the 170. When a guy is the champion in 170 and he move up to 185, ok. He have the belt, ok, he has a point…I can fight in December.”
Paulo Costa last fought in August 2020 against Luke Rockhold. Costa endured a brutal fight against the former UFC champion before emerging victorious by unanimous decision. The 32-year-old is currently ranked number six in the middleweight rankings.
Watch Paulo Costa’s interview with MMA Junkie below: