Khamzat Chimaev had a sneaky plan for middleweight debut, says Paulo Costa

Khamzat Chimaev is set to make his long-awaited return to the octagon when he faces Paulo Costa at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi later this year. Despite the bout being signed and officially announced, 'Borrachinha' does not believe that his opponent wants to face him.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani of The MMA Hour, the No.7-ranked middleweight stated:

"I want that fight so bad. A lot, I want a lot that fight. Dana wants a lot that fight. The audience wants that fight, but not Chimaev. Chimaev doesn't want that fight. He tried hard to get other guys to fight - Leon Edwards, Belal Muhammad, [Kamaru] Usman... but he was not fighting [at] 170. He [was] gonna fight at 185. He was trying to pull up some lighter guys to 185 [pounds] and not fight a genuine 185er."

Check out Paulo Costa's comments on Khamzat Chimaev below:

Costa has spent much of the past year targeting a bout with Chimaev after the pair were involved in an altercation at the UFC Performance Institute last September. Both fighters will have been inactive for over a full year by the time they clash, leading some fans to speculate if the fight will come to fruition.

Check out the footage of the Khamzat Chimaev and Paulo Costa's altercation below:

Paulo Costa says the winner of his bout against Khamzat Chimaev will receive title shot

Paulo Costa has won just one fight since his UFC 253 loss to Israel Adesanya nearly three years ago. Meanwhile, Khamzat Chimaev has never beaten a ranked middleweight opponent. Despite this, 'Borrachinha' recently shared that the winner of their UFC 294 bout will fight for the middleweight title next.

During a recent appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, the No.7-ranked middleweight stated:

"The winner of this fight is going to fight for the belt so I'm very motivated for this fight. First, because it's a great fight... The second reason is for the money. The third reason is because after that who [wins] is going to be next for a title shot."

Check out Paulo Costa's comments on fighting for the title below (starting at the 30:13 mark):

Costa added that he is not sure if the winner will jump the line to fight for the middleweight title. Adesanya has shared that he is planning to defend his belt at UFC 293. 'The Last Stylebender', however, also revealed that Dricus Du Plessis did not take the fight.

Adesanya then went on to call out Sean Strickland but an official fight announcement is yet to be made.