Paulo Costa writes off Chimaev return and targets Strickland, Hokit and Perry

Paulo Costa has abandoned hope of ever fighting Khamzat Chimaev, declaring the former UFC middleweight champion “done” following his title loss to Sean Strickland at UFC 328 and calling for fights against Strickland, undefeated heavyweight Josh Hokit, or BKFC king Mike Perry instead.

The two middleweights have traded insults for several years without ever being matched against each other. Chimaev built an unbeaten run to claim the middleweight title, while Costa endured a difficult stretch before righting his career with back-to-back wins over Azamat Murzakanov and Roman Kopylov. Despite the timing now theoretically aligning for a meeting, Costa is no longer interested in waiting.

“I don’t think this is going to happen,” Costa said in an Instagram video. “Because he’s broke. I think he’s done. I don’t think he’ll be back. And even if he can regrow and be back, this will not be this year. So let’s move on.”

Costa’s scepticism is grounded in Chimaev’s track record since his explosive 2020 debut, when he set a UFC record for the fastest turnaround between wins before capping his breakthrough campaign with a 17-second knockout of Gerald Meerschaert. Since then, Chimaev has logged just seven fights across six years, competing only once each in 2023, 2024, 2025, and so far in 2026. A severe bout of COVID-19 in 2021 left him with prolonged health complications, and he has also been hampered by visa problems and weight-cutting difficulties.

“Mental strength is not one of his qualities, so he has a lot of problems to solve before [being] back,” Costa added. “So that’s it, let’s move the page and let’s move on.”

With Chimaev off the table, Costa is targeting a busy second half of the year. He expressed interest in returning as early as July or August and said he is open to competing at middleweight, light heavyweight, or even heavyweight. His three named targets reflect that flexibility: a middleweight title shot against current champion Strickland, a heavyweight grudge match against unbeaten prospect Hokit, and a crossover bout with bare-knuckle boxing star Perry.

“I want to fight as soon as possible,” Costa said. “I can fight middleweight, light heavyweight, even heavyweight. We have a great host and let’s move.”