Paulo Costa, a former contender for the UFC middleweight title, said that Khamzat Chimaev should not fight for the organization’s championship belt in this weight.
“You know I don’t like this guy, but the thing is that people don’t take him seriously anymore. He stopped fighting, didn’t beat anyone in the middle division, even from the top 15, not to mention the top contenders. How can you take this guy seriously? He barely defeated Kamaru Usman, who came out on ten days' notice. Usman is a welterweight, and everyone saw that fight. I like these confrontations between countries, cultures, but after I beat Whittaker, I don’t want to hear the name Khamzat Chimaev. Fuck him! He must do something. He should beat someone in the top ten middleweights, but I don’t think he’s capable of that. I wanted to fight him in Abu Dhabi, it didn’t happen, I was upset, but now I’m here and fighting a guy who is significantly more qualified than him. Whittaker is better than him in everything, so Chimaev shouldn’t fight for the title before me.”
