Khamzat Chimaev has published a response after he was called up during the UFC 318 Fight Week.
July 19 is a huge date for Paulo Costa, because in his recent outings he wants to bounce back from a difficult series of results.
Although his former rival of Israel Adesanya Costa has encouraged to 'become serious again', the Brazilian clearly has more in his head than just his upcoming matchup.
His return to UFC 318 sees the former middleweight Title Challenger Face Roman Kopylov in a fight that could have huge implications for their classification in the division.
During the media day, however, 'Borrachinha' looked at another problem of his chest, while Costa Chimaev struck to send 'annoying' messages to his girlfriend during their rivalry.
Khamzat Chimaev Spot Paulo Costa in response to the recent comments of middleweight rival
Paulo Costa, more than his first fight in more than a year, claimed that, regardless of whether Khamzat wins Chimaev or loses his next outing, he wants the chance to arrange their feud.
The Brazilian proclaimed the undefeated candidate, labeled him as a “coward” and stated that he “wants to hurt him” after he has made the rivalry personally.
Costa was asked about his plans to call Chimaev during the UFC 318 press conference, where he said that while he focuses on his hand on Saturday evening, 'Borz' is still in his visor.
“You already know that, everyone knows that. We have a mutual hatred. After this fight I will send a message for him, but you have to wait to watch because my focus is now on this man. So I have to concentrate on him, but of course I have a plan afterwards and I have an unfinished things with Chimaev and I will see him soon or later.”
Although Costa has been one of the most unpredictable and unique characters on the Roster since he arrived in the UFC in 2017, his actions at the press conference fans confused.
The #13-ranking middleweight floated and constantly moved in his chair as he answered the question about Chimaev, to which his rival then referred in his answer.
Chimaev sent a response to Costa via social media, where he emphasized for a moment when 'Borrachinha' seemed to wipe his eyes when he spoke about the issue.
“Bro, what's going on with you? Don't start crying.”
Bro, what's going on with you? Don't start crying, please 😉:
– Khamzat Chimaev (@kchimaev) July 18, 2025
View tweet
Khamzat Chimaev was booked two years ago to tackle Paulo Costa
The rivalry between Khamzat Chimaev and Paulo Costa started when they were tailored to UFC 294 in October 2023.
After missing the weight in his previous outing at Welterweight, this fight would apparently use Chimaev to assume his first competition in the weight class.
Unfortunately, Costa was forced off the map after he had unveiled details of a substantial Staph infection that required surgery to treat.
Dana White defended Costa who was still planning to fight on UFC 294 before Kamaru Usman entered the late notification to face Chimaev in the Co-Main event.