“I persistently asked the UFC to move this fight to Saudi Arabia,” the Brazilian wrote on social media. “I don’t see a better five-round main event for this event because it makes sense to do it in the Middle East. I’d love to kick his ass there, but it doesn’t look like chenchen wants to do that.”
Also, the sixth-ranked middleweight has not ruled out that his next opponent could be former division champion, Robert Whittaker.
“The other guy on the list is Rob. If he’s interested, I suggest organizing it as early as possible because I want to be active next year.”
Recall that the fight between Khamzat Chimaev and Paulo Costa was scheduled to take place on October 21 at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi, however, the Brazilian pulled out of the bout due to a staph infection, giving way in the card to Kamar Usman, who lost to “Borz” by a majority of judges’ votes after three rounds. In a recent interview, the Chechen fighter revealed that he will soon have to undergo surgery on the hand injured in the fight with the Nigerian.
As for Robert Whittaker, he made it clear last week that he is ready to face Costa at UFC 299 on March 9.