Paulo Costa explains why Khamzat Chimaev is the “perfect” opponent for his next fight

Paulo Costa is hoping to fight Khamzat Chimaev next as he says he’s the perfect opponent for him.

Costa is coming off a decision loss to Sean Strickland back at UFC 302 after losing to Robert Whittaker by decision earlier this year. In his last fight against Strickland, Costa didn’t throw too much volume or many power punches, at least when compared to his earlier UFC fights.

After losing decisions in his last two fights, Paulo Costa says he’s going to bring back his old self and isn’t worried about decision wins anymore.

“So I promised Dana, Hunter, my team, myself, I will move forward. I will bring back the old Paulo that doesn’t care for points,” Costa said on The MMA Hour.

With Paulo Costa planning to be more aggressive, he believes the perfect opponent for him to do that is Khamzat Chimaev. He knows Chimaev will come out aggressive which will force him into a fight which is what he needs.

“This is what I want. But not only me. I want to bring the fight that people want to see. It’s very simple. Of course, they ask me who I want to fight next, I want to fight for the title. It’s obvious. But more important than this, I like to be and I’m trying to be the most entertaining fighter I can be. So I thought this fight against Sean would be very fun, but it wasn’t. It was boring. But next, the fight I think makes sense to bring a lot of entertainment, the fight would be fun, would be against Chimaev. This is perfect,” Costa said.

“He’s the perfect kind of fighter to bring back that old Paulo, to bring back the [aggression], to bring back the ferocity. I’m looking for that. I can’t wait to bring back this because I need redemption. I’m so upset. Nobody is more upset than myself when I do a bad fight against Sean. I’m not talking about losses. Losses come and go. But I’m upset about myself. I need that fight and Chimaev is perfect guy. I think he’s a little bit crazy, so this will be a very fun fight,” Costa added.

However, Chimaev had to pull out of his scheduled UFC Saudi Arabia fight against Robert Whittaker this Saturday so it’s uncertain when he will be able to fight again. But, when he is ready, Cosat is hopeful he can be Chimaev’s next opponent.

Costa and Chimaev were also scheduled to fight each other last October but an infection forced him out of the bout.