Paulo Costa Explains Post-UFC 319 Gameplan to Destroy Khamzat Chimaev: Block Shots and Deliver Knees
Paulo Costa has a defined vision for how he would dispatch of Khamzat Chimaev if he were ever booked in a fight against the UFC middleweight champion. This was discussed by the former UFC middleweight title challenger during a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, who took part in an impassioned in-studio interview.
While on the program, Costa mentioned that he was barred from being in attendance at UFC 319 which was the very event that saw Chimaev ascend to the 185-pound throne. ‘Borz’ would defeat Dricus du Plessis to become the new middleweight titleholder in the promotion and generated one of the most dominant performances in UFC history during their August 16th clash in Chicago.
The number twelve-ranked middleweight contender is coming off of his own win from the pay-per-view prior to Chimaev as Costa bested number fifteen-ranked Roman Kopylov at UFC 318. There is simmering bad blood between Costa and Chimaev, which, per the former, stems from some inappropriate DM’s sent to the Brazilian bruiser’s romantic partner.
When breaking down the machinations of the matchup with Chimaev and what he would do inside the cage against he undefeated MMA fighter, Costa said,
“I’ll show you. When he shoots on my legs, I’m going to block his head here, knees here, then I’m going to move my legs. The fight is going to keep on the feet. He’s going to shoot again and again, but then he’s going to get tired and I’ll start hitting him on his head and body.”
“Even if he puts me down, he will not keep me there. I will get up as soon as my butt hits the ground.”
Paulo Costa and the time that a Khamzat Chimaev fight fell through
Paulo Costa and Khamzat Chimaev have yet to get locked in the confines of a cage to resolve their issues, but there was a time when a bout scheduling between the two was in place. The date was October 21st, 2023, and the event was UFC 294, where this high-profile middleweight matchup was locked in.
Alas, a Costa elbow infection in close proximity to the bout scrapped the contest outright. This created a vacancy that saw Kamaru Usman step up on short notice to take on Khamzat Chimaev, with the former losing to the latter on points.
