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It is no secret that there is bad blood between Paulo Costa and Khamzat Chimaev following their altercation at the UFC Performance Institute during UFC 279 fight week. Costa shared that he is targeting a fight with Chimaev in Brazil.
During a recent appearance on The MMA Hour, Paulo Costa was asked by host Ariel Helwani about his thoughts on a potential opponent for UFC Rio de Janeiro. Costa wasted no time in calling out Khamzat Chimaev, claiming that he took everything from his potential opponent prior to UFC 279:
"Chimaev. I think because he's on hype. I stole some of his hype. I stole his night's sleep. I stole his cap. I stole his main event fight. I stole everything. Chimaev, you need to do something motherf**ker. I stole everything that you had. Everything that you had. Your hat. I stole your night’s sleep. I stole your weigh in. I stole everything. You are disturbed, so crazy, I cannot do this... so I think I need to fight that guy."
When asked by Ariel Helwani if he believes he is the reason Khamzat Chimaev missed weight, Paulo Costa responded by stating:
"For sure. He become so angry, so stressed, and he almost give up - he give up. He missed weight for eight pounds, almost nine. He gave up, he gave up for sure. I stole everything from him. Hype, soul, lack of sleep, main event, his hat, do something."
It is no surprise that Costa is targeting a fight with Chimaev. He also shared that the fight would have to take place at middleweight, a division where the No.3-ranked welterweight has shown an interest in competing for the title.
While Chimaev's coach believes the No.6-ranked middleweight Costa is looking for a payday, he did share that a middleweight move could be on the horizon for the Chechen.
Watch Paulo Costa's full comments on Khamzat Chimaev below (starting at the 2:40:45 mark):
Paulo Costa believes Khamzat Chimaev is scared of him
Although Paulo Costa is targeting a fight with Khamzat Chimaev, he doesn't think it is likely to happen. The Brazilian believes the welterweight contender is afraid of him. Costa shared these thoughts on Twitter following their altercation.
During a previous appearance on The MMA Hour, he echoed those sentiments. When asked by host Ariel Helwani about a potential fight at 185lbs, Costa shared why he believes a fight won't happen, stating:
"I’d like but I don’t really think this will happen because he avoids fighting me. He just wants to fight small guys, smaller than him... and the guys who have no wrestling, have no takedown defense, have no power to f**k him up... Him, his coach, his manager, the guys don't want that fight. The guy wants to fight Kevin Holland, small guys, Gilbert [Burns], and I appreciate those guys."
Watch Paulo Costa's full appearance on The MMA Hour below:
