Paulo Costa promised to show a different version of himself after a cold streak and a year long layoff and he delivered at UFC 318. The former middleweight title challenger secured his first win in nearly three years and just his second in almost six by earning a unanimous decision victory (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) over rising prospect Roman Kopylov in the co-main event at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.
True to his word, Costa used his post-fight interview to reignite his rivalry with Khamzat Chimaev, whom he was originally scheduled to face in 2023 before their bout fell through.
“Everybody knows I hate that guy. Everybody knows who. That motherf***er Khamzat Chimaev,” Costa told the ESPN broadcast. “My wife is over here. He DM’d her … He said bad things about me and her, but he never sent them to me because he is a coward. Chimaev, you are a coward. I am here, I’m going to look for you, I’m going to chase you and I will not stop until I get to you.”
Paulo Costa’s performance, combined with his fiery callout, positions him back in the middleweight spotlight and potentially sets the stage for one of the division’s most matches.
Bad energy equals great fights
Paulo Costa vs. Khamzat Chimaev is exactly the kind of bad blooded, fan fueled matchup the promotion thrives on. With Costa’s recent win and Chimaev still highly ranked and undefeated, the timing makes sense.
With Costa regrouping, and what seems to be added motivation to actually hurting somebody. We can probably see this fight sooner than later. Especially if Costa can continue to look as sharp as he did this past weekend.
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Robert LaMar is a writer for Dice City Sports. You can follow him on X via @RobertLaMar26
