Paulo Costa expects to finalize a new UFC deal this week and is targeting a fight with Khamzat Chimaev in Abu Dhabi; however, he is pushing for an earlier matchup in June instead of the anticipated October event.
Paulo Costa expects to finalize a new UFC deal this week and looks forward to a middleweight booking with Khamzat Chimaev, targeted for October in Abu Dhabi. While the matchup is eagerly anticipated, its timing at the event, expected to be UFC 294, doesn’t align with Costa’s preference. Costa mentioned on a recent show, “I’m bothering the UFC to schedule a fight before, like June. I think because they have some agreement [with the] Dubai government, so they need to push big fights for there.”
Chimaev recently called Costa a “coward” on Twitter, accusing him of dodging a matchup. However, Costa expressed confusion at the message, saying, “I think it’s a good match up. I think there’s a lot of hype behind this fight; the people want to see that fight. The people always ask me [about] that fight.” Staying active remains a priority for Costa, whose most recent trip to the octagon was a win this past August over Luke Rockhold. With one bout remaining on his current deal, he revealed that he volunteered for a short-notice light heavyweight fight against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 288. However, UFC wanted him to stay at 205 pounds due to Blachowicz’s high ranking in the division.
In response, Costa proposed going back to middleweight to face Chimaev in October and then take on Israel Adesanya in a rematch, who knocked him out in a title fight in 2020. Costa said, “They said, ‘Oh, it’s OK, you can fight just at 205 right now [against] Jan, and even if you beat him, you can come back and fight [in] October at middleweight.’ So then the UFC accepted that…and I went [on] to Twitter, and I posted, ‘OK guys, the fight is on, me and the UFC reach the terms, and I think Jan accepted as well.’ So we’re supposed to fight May 6.” However, Blachowicz declined the fight, accusing Costa of ducking him, to which Costa responded, “Jan, he’s lying. I never turned out and fight. Actually, he is who turned out the fight. I have always been negotiating that fight.”
Costa now hopes to book another fight that will complete his current deal and start a new UFC contract with better pay. He believes they are very close to finalizing the deal, saying, “We have agreed to most of the terms…so we are very close to finishing the deal and details.”