“You’re Coming to My Country…”: Ahead of His Anticipated Octagon Return at UFC 294, Khamzat Chimaev Sends Out a Grim Warning to Paulo Costa

Khamzat Chimaev is finally ready to unleash his menace in the octagon once again. With his undefeated record, screaming promises of ‘killing’ his opponents, and his villainous smile, Chimaev remains a fight to avoid for much of the UFC roster. It also helps his image that he has virtually dominated and managed to stop almost all of his opponents. The only exception was Gilbert Burns, who took him to the judges’ scorecard for the first time in his career last year. And now, Chimaev is gearing up to face another Brazilian who could give him some problems. But ‘Borz’ looks unfazed, judging from this violent message to his UFC 294 opponent.

The Swedish national is gearing up to face Brazilian middleweight Paulo Costa next in Abu Dhabi. Expecting a victory in a venue that favors him, the undefeated Chechen has come out with another threat for the Brazilian.

Khamzat Chimaev declares Paulo Costa a “dead man”

In a clip doing rounds on the internet, Khamzat Chimaev told Costa what he intends to do to him in their upcoming fight at UFC 294 in the UAE,(which ‘Borz’ called ‘his country’), next month. He called ‘Borrachina’ a “dead man” and promised to beat him up and send him back to Brazil. The 29-year-old added that even Brazilians don’t like Costa. He asked that Costa just make it to the Octagon and he would do the rest.

“Paulo. Paulovich. You dead man. Just be sure [to] come up to the cage. [I’ll] beat you up, send you back in the package to Brazil. But still in Brazil they don’t want you. No countries recognize you. Now you’re coming to my country. Muslims brother, they coming for you. Allahu Akbar (God is the greatest),” a confident Chimaev asserted.

While the middleweights are busy taking shots at each other, a new avenue opened up for them, thanks to the upset over the weekend at UFC 293.

With the shocking upset victory of Sean Strickland over Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 this week, the middleweight division is in flux. While it is not confirmed who Strickland will face next, it will either be a rematch with Adesanya, as Dana White said to reporters, or #1 ranked middleweight contender Dricus Du Plessis. The South African was originally slated to fight Adesanya at UFC 293 but pulled out. Taking all this into account, a UFC veteran has decoded the new stakes for the UFC 294 co-main event.

How did UFC 293 raise the stakes for Chimaev vs. Costa?

Former UFC middleweight title challenger Chael Sonnen gave an interesting new perspective. According to ‘The Bad Guy,’ what was once a no.1 contender’s match for Chimaev has now become the same for Costa too. Adesanya’s dominant win at UFC 253 was a huge hurdle in Costa’s title aspirations. Now that Strickland is champion, both Chimaev and Costa are fresh matchups for him, and for the division. Further, Sonnen expects, Du Plessis’ decision to sit out for UFC 293 to cost him dearly as far as his title aspirations go.

‘Borz’ will be back in the cage after over a year on the sidelines against Paulo Costa at UFC 294 on October 21 in Abu Dhabi. This banger will serve as the co-main event for the lightweight title bout between champion Islam Makhachev and challenger and former champion Charles Oliveira.

READ MORE: True African Fight Interrupted as Dricus Du Plessis Can’t Believe Sean Strickland Dropped Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 in One of the Biggest Upsets in MMA History

Who do you think will win in the bout between Chimaev and Costa at UFC 294? And should they fight Strickland for the title next? Let us know in the comments section below.

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