Paulo Costa blasts UFC star Khamzat Chimaev, accuses him of ducking clash again: ‘He wants to fight easy fights’
Former undisputed middleweight title challenger, Paulo Costa has once more taken aim at arch-rival, Khamzat Chimaev, claiming the unbeaten Chechen wants to fight easier opponents than him, and accusing him of running from a long-anticipated showdown.
Costa, who slumped to number six in the official middleweight rankings earlier this month, snapped an almost two-year hiatus from the sport with a co-main event slot against former champion, Robert Whittaker at UFC 298.
And suffering his third professional loss, Belo Horizonte native, Costa was returned to the losing column in a decision defeat, following a prior decision win of his own over former UFC and Strikeforce middleweight kingpin, Luke Rockhold.
As for Chimaev, the unbeaten middleweight contender improved to 13-0 last October at UFC 294, turning in a close, debated majority decision win over former welterweight champion and prior pound-for-pound number one, Kamaru Usman.
Paulo Costa takes aim at Khamzat Chimaev again
Reflecting on his failed pairing with the Chechen at UFC 294 last year, Costa again accused Chimaev of avoiding a fight with him, questioning the calibre of opponent the latter is willing to share the Octagon with.
“He (Khamzat Chimaev) needs to stop running,” Paulo Costa told Submission Radio during a recent interview. “He needs to have balls to face me. Yes, for a long time, long time, this guy avoided this fight. He has no balls. If the guys don’t push him, he has no balls to fight me.”
“He wants to fight easy fights, he wants to fight guys, you know, he don’t want to fight guys like me, (Robert) Whittaker, or somebody else like that,” Paulo Costa explained. “He wants to fight guys with no wrestling, no Jiu-Jitsu game, no grappling. You know, something like that.”
Do you think Paulo Costa will ever fight Khamzat Chimaev in the future?
