Paulo
Costa is ready to fight Khamzat
Chimaev in any weight class.
Costa (15-4) will face Azamat
Murzakanov (16-0) in a light heavyweight clash at UFC 327
on April 11 at the Kaseya Center in Miami. While Costa is unsure
whether he will continue at light heavyweight, “Borrachinha” is
confident that he can still make middleweight whenever he
wants.
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Costa believes he can call for a middleweight title shot against
Chimaev with a convincing win over undefeated Murzakanov. The
former middleweight title challenger also doesn’t mind waiting for
Chimaev at light heavyweight.
‘I Can Fight Him in Both Divisions’
“[Khamzat] is the champion right now,” Costa said on „The Ariel Helwani Show.” “I think after a good
victory against Azamat on April 11, I get back at middleweight to
be in line to fight him. Or I can wait for him at 205. I can fight
him in both divisions.”
Chimaev dominantly defeated Dricus Du
Plessis to win the middleweight title at
UFC 319 last year. Chimaev’s future remains unsure as he had
originally been teasing a move to light heavyweight to challenge
Alex
Pereira. However, Dana White clearly said that he would like to
see Chimaev defend his title first. However, Chimaev’s move to
light heavyweight is immediately unlikely as Jiri
Prochazka and Carlos
Ulberg will fight for the vacant title at UFC 327. This means
that Pereira will vacate the light heavyweight title and move up,
and Chimaev will have to stay put at middleweight for the time
being.
Costa is coming off an upset win over Roman
Kopylov that saw him rebound from consecutive losses against
Robert
Whittaker and Sean
Strickland. Meanwhile, Murzaknov has finished five of his six
UFC wins so far, most notably knocking out Aleksandar
Rakic at UFC 321
last year.