"I want to hurt him" - Paulo Costa wants to beat up Khamzat Chimaev after "nasty" DMs to Brazilian's girlfriend

Paulo Costa recently rekindled his feud with Khamzat Chimaev by going on a lengthy rant against the unbeaten contender. Costa accused the 31-year-old of sending his girlfriend inappropriate texts and expressed his desire to fight Chimaev next.

Costa has a lot of animosity towards Chimaev. Notably, the two were scheduled to face each other at UFC 294 in 2023. However, their bout didn't materialize after Costa pulled out due to an elbow infection. Upon recovery, the Brazilian suffered a two-fight skid last year against former champions Robert Whittaker and Sean Strickland. He is now set to return against Roman Kopylov in the co-main event of UFC 318 on Saturday.

During the UFC 318 media day, Costa stated that he plans to call out Chimaev if he wins this weekend, saying:

''I want to fight him very badly. I want to hurt him. It doesn't matter if he won the fight or not, it doesn't matter. We need to fight. He talked very bad things about me to my girl on Instagram DM's. This is totally personal. I feel angry just to hear his name, so we need to fight. ... I'm going to do my best Saturday, if God gives me the victory because he controls everything, but I'm pretty sure I'll get the victory and I'll call his name. It doesn't matter if he wins or not. This fight will only not happen if he retires."

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Costa added:

"Dirty things. Like, 'You should look for a better man.' Something like that, you know. Dirty things, dirty things. These are not things a real man, a confident man, ought to do. Why he messaged her? Why he didn't message me? Coward. He is a coward."

Check out Paulo Costa's comments below:

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Paulo Costa previews the Dricus du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev fight at UFC 319

In the aforementioned media day, former middleweight title challenger Paulo Costa gave his take on the 185-pound title fight between Dricus du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319 on Aug. 16 at United Center in Chicago, Illinois.

Costa didn't give a clear prediction but said it will be a tough matchup for Chimaev:

''It's hard to predict something, but I feel Dricus [Du Plessis] is more solid. He can resist the very first rush from Chimaev, and then we never know after the third round how Chimaev can maintain his energy after the third round, so I think this is my question.''

Check out Paulo Costa's comments below (11:52):

About the author

Swagat is a dynamic MMA writer with a total experience of a little less than a year, which includes time in retail and sports journalism. He holds an MBA degree.

Swagat fell in love with the sport after watching the iconic grudge match between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier at UFC 182 in early 2015. Nate Diaz holds a special place in his heart for the Stockton native’s entertaining fan-friendly style and ability to deliver exciting fights regardless of the opponent.

In terms of rule changes in MMA, Swagat advocates for making scores public after each round, adding transparency to judging decisions.

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Edited by Swagat Kumar Jena