Khamzat Chimaev promises he will “smash” Paulo Costa at UFC 294
Surging UFC middleweight contender Khamzat Chimaev promised that he will “smash” Paulo Costa during their upcoming fight at UFC 294.
Chimaev has not fought in almost a year since he defeated Kevin Holland at UFC 279 last summer. However, he finally returns to the Octagon this fall when he fights Costa at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi this October. Costa was originally set to fight Ikram Aliskerov at UFC 291 this weekend, but the UFC broke apart that fight to give Costa the fight against Chimaev, while Aliskerov will now take on Nassourdine Imavov in another top contender’s bout in the UFC middleweight division.
Ahead of his return to the Octagon, Chimaev spoke to TNT Sports and spoke about his fight against Costa. According to Chimaev, he will do what he does to everyone, and that’s to go in the cage and “smash” the Brazilian middleweight.
“Smash, make money. I make that guy cry, go home, be in Brazil. Nobody likes him. All Brazilians like me, support me. That guy is not Brazilian. I’m going to go, smash this guy and make him cry,” Chimaev said (via MMAjunkie.com).
As mentioned earlier, Chimaev hasn’t fought in nearly a year, even though he has been connected to a fight against former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. Chimaev has no idea why that fight didn’t happen, but he says he has been training the entire time, and regardless, he’s excited to return to the cage and finish Costa at UFC 294.
“I don’t know. I make everyone scared. Usman says he’s boogieman, (but) all these men think about me. When it comes to the fight, they have some surgeries, some problems. So I don’t know. I fight with everybody. Ask Dana White, I never said no. I’m ready always. Yeah, I’ve been out for a long time also, (but) I’ve been training all the time. When big money comes, it’s hard to make fight for me so,” Chimaev said.
Do you think Khamzat Chimaev will defeat Paulo Costa at UFC 294?
