Paulo Costa explains why he has no interest in rebooking Khamzat Chimaev fight: “F**k him”

Paulo Costa has no interest in fighting Khamzat Chimaev after the two were supposed to fight back in October in Abu Dhabi.

Costa and Chimaev were supposed to fight at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi but while the Brazilian was there he had a nasty elbow infection which forced him out of the bout. Costa ended up being replaced by Kamaru Usman who Chimaev beat by majority decision in a very competitive fight.

Since then, Khazmat Chimaev has not fought while Paulo Costa will return to the Octagon on Saturday against Robert Whittaker at UFC 298. Should Costa get his hand raised, he says he has no intention of rebooking a fight with Chimaev.

Paulo Costa doesn't want to hear Khamzat Chimaev's name again.
Via: @TheMacLife#ufc298 pic.twitter.com/EDn4FPq8TQ

— skmma (@_skmma_) February 15, 2024

“Of course, everybody knows I don’t like the guy. But I don’t think too much people take him seriously anymore. He just stopped fighting. He didn’t beat anybody in the middleweight division. He didn’t beat anybody in the top 15 in the middleweight division. How can you take this guy seriously? He barely could beat Usman on 10 days, short notice,” Paulo Costa said at UFC 298 media day.

“Usman is a welterweight. He didn’t cut weight to middleweight and everybody saw that fight. I was there. But, I like this beef between countries and cultures and two guys. But after I beat Whittaker, bro, I will not hear his name. F**k him. He needs to do something. He needs to beat somebody at least in the top 10 in the middleweight. I don’t think he’s capable to do that,” Costa continued.

Instead of being interested in a fight with Khamzat Chimaev, Paulo Costa says he’s focused on Robert Whittaker at UFC 298. Should he win that fight, Costa believes he should get a title shot, which is why he isn’t interested in rebooking a fight with Chimaev. But, Costa is the betting underdog against Whittaker, so perhaps if he loses the Chimaev fight could happen in the future.

Paulo Costa is 14-2 as a pro and hasn’t fought since August of 2022 when he beat Luke Rockhold by decision. Before that, he lost to Marvin Vettori by decision and Israel Adesanya by TKO for the belt, which was also his first career loss.