Paulo Costa vows to stop Khamzat Chimaev’s unbeaten run and end his hype.
Costa (14-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) takes on Chimaev (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) in a middleweight bout Oct. 21 at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi.
Chimaev has competed at both welterweight and middleweight throughout his career but will look to zero in on a title shot if he can get past former 185-pound title challenger Costa. But Costa, who showed off his ripped physique, said Chimaev is in trouble.
“Gourmet Chen Chen has no chance, zero, no chance,” Costa said in a social media post (h/t The Mac Life). “I’m going to destroy him – dead man walking. Dead man walking right there in Chechnya. I come to f*ck you in your f*cking house, motherf*cker. Training hard every single day, I have no days off. Look at this face, look at this face. Look right here, gourmet Chen Chen: the man who is going to kill you.
I’m your bigger NIGHTMARE. BLF is coming to erase you
gourmet Chen Chen pic.twitter.com/RIn8k2Dgem
— Paulo Costa ( Borrachinha ) (@BorrachinhaMMA) July 24, 2023
Costa hasn’t competed since outlasting Luke Rockhold in a bloody Fight of the Night war at UFC 278. He was linked to a matchup with Ikram Aliskerov for Saturday’s UFC 291 main card in Salt Lake City, but was pulled and matched up with Chimaev instead.
Chimaev will also return after more than a year away. His most recent win came in a 180-pound catchweight bout at UFC 279, where he quickly submitted Kevin Holland.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 294.
Paulo Costa warns ‘dead man walking’ Khamzat Chimaev in video before UFC 294