Paulo Costa is back after a year-long layoff — and he hopes UFC 318 serves as a launchpad back into the elite of the middleweight division.
The Brazilian knockout artist rides a two-fight losing skid into his co-main event clash with Roman Kopylov this Saturday in New Orleans. The matchup was originally planned for June’s International Fight Week pay-per-view, UFC 317, but a bad case of the flu prevented Costa from an earlier return.
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Costa’s comeback arrives just one month before the division’s title is contested between UFC champion Dricus du Plessis and undefeated challenger Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319. Although he has some work to do before he nears a second-career title shot, Costa isn’t letting go of his old rivalry with Chimaev.
“This son of a b****, I want to fight this guy,” Costa said on Monday’s edition of “The Ariel Helwani Show.”
“It’s hard to say [if Chimaev wins the middleweight title fight] because ‘DDP’ is tough. He knows how to defend the very early takedowns that Chimaev is supposed to try again. I don’t know, but doesn’t matter — win or lose, I want to fight that motherf***er [Chimaev]. It has to happen.”
The rivalry between Costa and Chimaev dates back to September 2022, ahead of Chimaev’s bout against Kevin Holland at UFC 279. Costa had just picked up an entertaining unanimous decision win over former champ Luke Rockhold the previous month and stuck around stateside, ultimately running into Chimaev inside the UFC Performance Institute and nearly coming to blows after a heated verbal altercation.
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That seed appeared to sprout fruit one year later when it led to a booking between the two for UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi. Unfortunately for Costa, a bad staph infection on his elbow required surgery and forced his withdrawal. Chimaev wound up fighting to a short-notice decision win over Kamaru Usman instead.
“I’m focused on [Chimaev],” Costa said. “I will call his name after this [fight] if God gives me this victory, I will call his name, and I’m going to call this son of a b**** motherf***er for a fight. He needs to fight me, I need to fight him.
“I have tried to fight him for a long time. Since we had a beef inside the [UFC] PI, and he has been avoiding fighting me for a long time. He always says no, and UFC has tried to put this match [together] for a long time. Like two years ago. They always say, ‘OK, Chimaev says no. He don’t want to fight you. He wants to fight anybody at 185 [pounds], but he doesn’t [want to] fight you.’ Then they couldn’t finish the deal and I got the surgery on my elbow, so in that week he sent a message for my girl, Tamara. He acted like a woman. He said some bad s***s, something like, ‘I’m going to be your husband and I’m going to do bad things.’ But he said for her and not for me.
“This is something that pissed me off, and I want to put these things inside the cage and bring to the cage.”
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The aforementioned Rockhold fight is Costa’s only victory over his past five bouts — a slump that dates back to 2020, when Israel Adesanya routed Costa to defend the UFC middleweight championship and put an end to the impressive 13-fight unbeaten streak that began the Brazilian’s pro career. Against Kopylov, Costa expects a vintage all-action bout, similar to what fans grew accustomed to seeing during his rise.
“This is a very important [fight] for me,” Costa admitted. “This is a great matchup. [Kopylov] is a striker, he’s southpaw. I know how to fight against southpaws. I know he’s dangerous. He has good kicks and left straight hands, but I’m very prepared for that. I’m excited and happy for this fight. I think he can bring a great fight for me and him, of course. For everyone, for the audience.
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“This fight is going to be short — not 15 minutes, no way. Maybe [it ends in] two rounds, maybe in the first round. I think this is going to be a good collision, two guys looking for a finish. I will be there to finish this fight since the very first minute.”
