Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

Luke Rockhold Predicts How Khamzat Chimaev vs. Paulo Costa Plays Out At UFC 294

Originally posted on MMA News | Last updated 8/29/23

Luke Rockhold thinks that Khamzat Chimaev has the all the skills necessary to defeat Paulo Costa at UFC 294, but the former middleweight champion does believe the Brazilian could play spoiler if he shows up with the right mindset.

Costa was originally slated to meet the unranked Ikram Aliskerov at UFC 291 last month before the promotion rescheduled both men to fight at UFC 294. Aliskerov will now meet Nassourdine Imavov in Abu Dhabi, while Costa is set to welcome the unbeaten Chimaev to the middleweight division.

Rockhold was the last man to share the Octagon with Costa, and during a recent interview Chamatkar Sandhu asked the 38-year-old how he expects the Chimaev fight to play out.

“I really don’t know,” Rockhold admitted. “I don’t know what to say. I think Khamzat could employ wrestling. I mean, you can outwrestle Paulo. I was rusty. I came back, I broke my nose, it changes the element of the [fight] very quickly in the first round of how that fight could have gone. Khamzat is sharp, he’s a little younger. Probably got a little better cardio.”

Rockhold Questions Paulo Costa's Mindset Ahead Of UFC 294

Rockhold and Costa combined for a bloody Fight of the Night performance at UFC 278 that the Brazilian won via unanimous decision, but admittedly “The Eraser” hasn't seemed especially invested in his fighting career in the year since that victory.

“[Chimaev] could win, but Paulo could overwhelm him, very much. Very much so. We’ll see how Paulo is, where he’s at. I don’t know if his head is back in the fight game fully, so we’ll see if this really snaps him in and if he’s on the hunt in the right way like the old Paulo.”

Costa joined the UFC with an unbeaten record in 2017 and proceeded to stop his first four opponents with strikes before winning a decision over Yoel Romero. The Brazilian was stopped by Israel Adesanya when he tried to claim the middleweight title at UFC 253, and he’s only stepped into the Octagon twice since then.

Rockhold’s loss to Costa at UFC 278 saw the former middleweight champion announce his retirement from MMA, however he returned to combat sports six months later when he took on Mike Perry in the main event of BKFC 41 and lost a few teeth in his bareknuckle debut.

Please provide transcription credit with a link to this article if you use any of these quotes.

This article first appeared on MMA News and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: