Paulo Costa has turned UFC 327 struggle week right into a working feud with Russian fighters and a renewed marketing campaign to attract Khamzat Chimaev right into a grudge match.
In Miami, Costa meets undefeated Russian contender Azamat Murzakanov in his mild heavyweight debut at UFC 327 on April 11, a co-main occasion that would push him straight into the title image. The Brazilian, a former middleweight title challenger with a 15–4 document, has bulked up for the transfer to 205 kilos and has framed Murzakanov, who sits at 16–0, because the second Russian in a row he plans handy a loss.
Talking at media day, Costa mentioned he “likes to struggle Russians” and referred to as them powerful, however then flipped the tone by leaning right into a extra hostile narrative to promote the matchup.
“I hate Russians. That is the second in a row that I’m gonna placed on my document, and the third one possibly Chimaev. I need him subsequent after beating this fats man.”
Paulo Costa Hates Russians
The construct began months out when Paulo Costa posted a photograph and message geared toward “bald, chubby Russians,” a line broadly learn as a jab at Murzakanov’s physique. He has since saved that angle alive via interviews and press appearances, mixing jokes with sharper feedback about Russian fighters normally. One latest social media headline captured the tone, quoting Costa saying he “hates these f—king Russians” whereas promising to name out Chimaev if he will get his hand raised at UFC 327.
Chimaev stays the true goal behind a lot of the trash speak. The pair have had a simmering rivalry since they had been initially booked to struggle at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi in October 2023, a bout that fell aside when Costa withdrew as a result of surgical procedure on an contaminated elbow. Chimaev stayed on the cardboard and prolonged his unbeaten run, later occurring to seize the middleweight title by beating Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319. Costa has adopted that rise intently, touring to occasions and utilizing interviews to maintain his identify hooked up to the champion.
UFC 327
Forward of UFC 327, Costa has mentioned he’s keen to face Chimaev at both middleweight or mild heavyweight, insisting he can transfer between divisions relying on how his debut at 205 goes. In an look earlier this yr, he argued {that a} sturdy win over Murzakanov ought to put him “in line” for Chimaev, whether or not which means a title shot at 185 or a high-profile non-title struggle. He has framed Murzakanov as one step in a sequence of Russian opponents, with Chimaev because the third identify he desires on that run.
For now, the main focus is Murzakanov, a compact, heavy-handed wrestler using an unbeaten streak and seeking to spoil Costa’s first outing at mild heavyweight. Costa, although, has made it clear that his mouth is working two fights directly: beat this “fats man,” as he put it in a single barb, after which use the microphone to pull Chimaev into the cage subsequent.
