UFC 294 witnessed a fearsome battle between Khamzat Chimaev and Kamaru Usman. Of course, it was the Chechen Wolf who secured the win at the event. But the former welterweight champion wasn’t really the first opponent who was set to go down against Chimaev. Initially, it was a matchup between Chimaev and Paulo Costa. Unfortunately, the Brazilian star got his left elbow troubled with a nasty staph infection that pushed him out of the fight and into the hospital bed for surgery. And thus, the co-main event at UFC 294 fell into jeopardy, only to be saved by ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’. And obviously, Chimaev was visibly angry at Costa for pulling out. 

This rage was highlighted during the pre-fight press conference for the event. Therein, a reporter asked Dana White regarding the future of the Brazilian fighter. But before the reporter could finish his question, or White could offer an answer, ‘Borz’ came forth and said, “Don’t ask questions about that s— man. Come on. The guy went home, man. He s— himself, man.” Chimaev’s irritation was fair, as he focused his training with Costa in his mind. Getting a new opponent on short notice is indeed a tough job to handle. In such cases, the entire game plan needs to be changed. And that demanded more work from the fighters. 

Chimaev continued with his wrath and said, “Get that guy here, man, I’ll f— him up.” It felt like ‘Borz’ wasn’t convinced by ‘Borrachinha’s injury. But the UFC head honcho knew the details better. He went on to defend Costa by claiming that he seriously had to take care of his elbow. However, the Chechen Wolf remained adamant. He blurted out, “Be honest. He s— himself. That’s why he run, man… Hiding him in different hotels from me.” Nevertheless, White announced, “It’s legit. Listen, if it wasn’t legit, I’d be the first one to say it. Absolutely legit that that guy is seriously injured and needed to do what he needed to do. I know that is not a popular answer for Khamzat. But it’s the truth.”  

And now, after 2 years of all that drama, Chimaev’s rage resurfaced as Full Send MMA recently shared a video of the UFC 294 pre-fight press conference on Instagram. The caption of the resurfaced video read, “UFC middleweight title challenger Khamzat Chimaev has taken a calmer approach on the microphone as his career has progressed but a media member found the right button to push if you want to bring back Evil Khamzat at the UFC press conferences.”

And as soon as the resurfaced video hit the social media platform, the fighting community took over the comments section. Let’s take a look at what the fighting realm had to say about Chimaev’s anger at UFC 294 pre-fight press conference, shall we? 

Fight fans show concern for Paulo Costa as Khamzat Chimaev raged on at UFC 294 press conference

Most of the fans weighed in on the hypothetical scenario where Costa wasn’t injured and fought Chimaev. But with the show of power that ‘Borz’ displayed against Robert Whittaker still burning bright, the fans knew what would have happened if he had fought Costa. One of the fans claimed, “Costa would of died fighting khamzat.” Another fan added, “Costa is finished.” Replying to this comment, the fans speculated on the upcoming Chimaev vs. Dricus Du Plessis fight. But things came in as warnings. One fan wrote, “khamzat better choke ddp out in first because if he don’t it’s over for him.” Another fan replied, “dricus is different though.” Additionally, one more fan agreed to it and wrote, “True. It’ll be a good fight.” 

However, some of the fans believed that Chimaev wasn’t cut out to judge others for pulling out of fights. After all, his own MMA record is plagued with 6 fight cancellations in just 5 years. And 3 of them happened because the Chechen Wolf got violently ill. A fan weighed in on this and commented, “Chimaev can’t talk he’s pulled out of a bunch of fights.” One more fan added, “Hasnt khamzat pulled out of fights multiple times cause of his weak immune system, glass house throwing stones.”

Meanwhile, a few fans opted to bring in a bit of humor. One of them reflected on the time when Chimaev got angry at UFC 308. Therein, a reporter asked Whittaker if he recommended that people in Australia go to bed early the day before the bout, to watch ‘The Reaper’ get the win. Instead, ‘Borz’ rushed in with a snide remark. The fan wrote, “Put the aussie casual reporter that got Chimaev heated last fight.” On the other hand, another fan decided to talk about Islam Makhachev’s reaction. The comment read, “Islam Makachev: What are you saying bratha.” 

What are your thoughts on the heat between Costa and Chimaev? Do you think Chimaev would have defeated Costa with ease at UFC 294 had the duo fought? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.