Paulo Costa believes Khamzat Chimaev is avoiding a fight with him: “He just wants to fight guys with no wrestling”

UFC middleweight contender Paulo Costa believes Khamzat Chimaev is avoiding him.

‘The Eraser’ is fresh off his victory over Luke Rockhold at UFC 278 last month. While many fans praised the former middleweight champion’s performance, it was Costa who secured the win by decision. It was the first victory for the Brazilian since August 2019.

While he just fought last month, the 31-year-old nearly got into another fight last week. While in town for UFC 279, Costa got into an altercation with Khamzat Chimaev. The two nearly got into a fight at the UFC PI before being pulled apart.

‘Borz’ went on to defeat Kevin Holland by submission in the pay-per-view co-main event. However, the victory didn’t come without controversy. Chimaev wasn’t even supposed to fight Holland on Saturday, but the fight was made after the Chechen missed weight for his bout against Nate Diaz.

Following UFC 279, Dana White stated that Khamzat Chimaev will likely fight at 185-pounds moving forward. Despite that, Paulo Costa doesn’t believe that he will fight the Chechen star in the future.

In an interview on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, the Brazilian blasted the welterweight contender. Costa stated that Chimaev was avoiding a fight with him, and also opined that he only fought smaller fighters who can’t wrestle.

“I do like [a fight with Chimaev]”, stated Paulo Costa on The MMA Hour. “But, I don’t think It’ll happen, because he’s avoiding fighting me, you know. He doesn’t want to fight me, he just wants to fight guys smaller than him and guys who have no wrestling, have no takedown defense, have no power to f*ck him up.”

He continued, “He knows who I am, and even his coach and his manager don’t want that fight. His guys want to fight Kevin Holland, small guy, Gilbert [Burns], and I appreciate those guys. But, he chooses who he wants to fight.”

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