‘You Can’t Hide From Me!’

Costa believes his UFC 294 opponent Chimaev isn’t happy about having to face someone bigger as they prepare to battle in Abu Dhabi this fall.

Paulo Costa has sent a message to Khamzat Chimaev regarding the announcement of their UFC 294 fight in Abu Dhabi, accusing “Borz” of attempting to duck him.

Yesterday (Wednesday, July 19, 2023) marked a big switch-up for Costa: he was originally set to face Ikram Aliskerov in Salt Lake City for UFC 291 in a few weeks. Now both Costa and Aliskerov will fight at UFC 294 on October 21st, and not against each other. Instead, Costa will face Chimaev, and Aliskerov will face Nassourdine Imavov.

Khamzat Chimaev has been stuck on the sidelines through all of 2023 waiting for this Abu Dhabi bout to materialize. It was looking shaky up until Wednesday. “Borz” had wanted to fight Kamru Usman, but the UFC didn’t want to set up a catchweight. And then as the Costa vs. Chimaev fight was undoubtedly coming together, Khamzat tweeted out a challenge to 170 pound champion Leon Edwards.

Paulo Costa sees this is an attempt to duck him.

“What the f—? He’s terrified,” Costa exclaimed in an Instagram Story over a picture of Khamzat’s tweet. “Terrified! Look at this! Motherf—er, you can’t hide from me. You can’t hide from me. I swear for God, I feel sorry for him. Oh my God. I came to you, motherf—er! I came to you.”

He also re-shared a message from a fan that read “No more weight bullying,” a clear charge that Khamzat Chimaev’s success up until now is due to him fighting undersized opponents. He certainly won’t have a size advantage against “Borrachinha,” who missed weight for one of his middleweight bouts so badly the fight had to be moved to 205 pounds.

Chimaev and Costa have been going back and forth on social media since a run-in at the UFC Performance Institute last year that saw “Borz” try to pick a fight. Video shows Khamzat being held back from a physical altercation by his team. Costa says the Chechen fighter froze.

Now they get to settle things properly in the cage, unless another crazy day of booking switch-ups happen. With Paulo Costa and Khamzat Chimaev, you never know!