Paulo Costa’s ‘Dream Fight’ is Title Bout Against Khamzat Chimaev

Paulo Costa continues to eye a matchup against Khamzat Chimaev despite having his next booking confirmed.

Costa (14-2) was scheduled to face Chimaev (13-0) at UFC 294 in October but was forced out due to a severe elbow infection. The Brazilian was ultimately replaced on short notice by former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, who went on to drop a majority decision against “Borz.”

“Borrachinha” is now scheduled to face former champ Robert Whittaker (24-7) at UFC 298 on Feb. 17 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

According to Costa, he was initially pursuing the Chimaev fight but accepted the Whittaker booking as he didn’t want to wait very long.

“I was trying to fight Gourmet Chechen — Chimaev. I was trying. Since I could not fight and he fought against Kamaru — he won, but he didn’t convince anyone I don’t think, me and the people I talk with, at least, and most of the fans I don’t think,” the Brazilian said on The MMA Hour. “I was not convinced he’s the guy, No. 1 contender. So, I keep trying that fight, pushing for that fight. ‘OK guys let’s make this fight happen,’ and what Hunter and the UFC guys said he’s not going to fight until June or July or something like that. So, then I needed to move. They said, ‘We have Whittaker.’ I said OK, let’s go,”

Costa’s first title bid was foiled by Israel Adesanya in 2020. He then bounced back at UFC 278 with a somewhat bizarre decision win over Luke Rockhold, who was returning after a three-year hiatus and hadn’t won a fight since 2017. Regardless, “Borrachinha” believes he can secure No.1 contender status with a win over Whittaker.

If successful, Costa’s dream fight would be a gold bid against Chimaev. The Brazilian is adamant that he has all the tools and grit to hand “Borz” his first professional loss.

“My dream fight is for the belt against [the] Chechen. I have no question about one fight, one matchup against Chimaev. I can bet everything on me. I’m so confident in that fight,” The 32-year-old said.

“This should happen, it has to happen. But they cannot force [him]. You don’t know how much everybody from the UFC forced, they actually forced Khamzat to fight me in Abu Dhabi. He [turned it down] three times last year. They put him in the corner and said, ‘OK, so you’re going to fight no one if you don’t fight Paulo.’ They made him a very good contract, like $2 million, to sign this deal. But Allah saved him. God saved him, just for now.”