Paulo Costa is no longer interested in fighting Khamzat Chimaev.
Chimaev lost his middleweight title to Sean Strickland in a massive upset at UFC 328 earlier this month. Costa had initially called for a matchup against Chimaev after he lost to Strickland.
However, Costa (16-4) has now changed his mind. “Borrachinha” believes Chimaev won’t be able to recover from the loss anytime soon. Meanwhile, Costa wants to be back in action as early as July or August. The Brazilian is willing to fight at middleweight, light heavyweight or even heavyweight. Costa gave his fans three potential opponents to choose from: Sean Strickland, Josh Hokit, or Mike Perry.
Weighing His Options
“I know many of you guys want to have me facing Gourmet Chen Chen Chimaev next,” Costa said in a since-deleted post on Instagram. “I don’t think it’s gonna happen. Why? Because he broke; I think he’s done, I don’t think he’ll be back. And even he can grow and be back, it will not be this year. So, let’s move on. I have a bunch of fights, great fights, great matches to do. I want to fight as soon as possible. I think August is an amazing date, even July. I can fight middleweight, light heavyweight, even heavyweight… Stop talking about Gourmet Chen Chen. I wished to fight him before he lost. But mental strength is not one of his qualities. He has a lot of problems to solve before he’s back… Tell right here who you think I should fight. I will bring three names for you guys: Hokit, heavyweight; Strickland, middleweight; Mike Perry. Make your choice.”
Costa suffered a decision loss against Strickland in 2024. Costa has since rebounded with consecutive upset wins over Roman Kopylov and Azamat Murzakanov. Costa has been trading barbs with Hokit since he won a double bonus with a decision win over Curtis Blaydes at UFC 327 last month. Costa stopped a previously undefeated Murzakanov on the same card and accused Hokit of robbing him of his bonus. Meanwhile, Perry has attracted Costa’s attention with a brutal beatdown of Nate Diaz on the MVP MMA card earlier this month.
