Islam Makhachev's former teammate issues scathing challenge to Paulo Costa alleging him of ducking: "I am ready to ask UFC for your head on a plate"

Another feud looks to be brewing in the middleweight division. Islam Makhachev's former teammate recently blasted Paulo Costa and accused the Brazilian of avoiding him. He then called out Costa for a potential fight next year.

The individual in question is Ikram Aliskerov, who took to X and launched a heated tirade against Costa, writing:

''When UFC offered you a fight with me, you said that you don't even know my name. Now you are 1-4 in your last 5 fights and you are posting stupid photoshop pics to attract attention. I have unfinished business on February 1st. And after that I am ready to ask @ufc for your head on a plate @BorrachinhaMMA.''

Aliskerov and Costa were previously scheduled to face each other at UFC 291, however their fight was canceled. The two were then slated to face Roman Dolidze and Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294, respectively, but none of the fights actually happened.

Costa is currently on a two-fight losing streak. Following a two-year hiatus, 'The Eraser' returned to the octagon and squared off against former champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 298 earlier this year, but suffered a unanimous decision loss.

The 33-year-old then took on Sean Strickland at UFC 302 in hopes of getting back to the title contention. However, his plans were derailed after losing to Strickland via split decision.

Meanwhile, Aliskerov made a successful octagon debut last year with an opening round knockout win against Phil Hawes at UFC 288. He then secured another first-round knockout victory against Warlley Alves at UFC 294.

In his recent MMA outing at UFC Saudi Arabia, the Russian replaced former opponent Khamzat Chimaev on short-notice and took on Whittaker in the main event, but suffered an opening round knockout defeat. Aliskerov will now face Andre Muniz at UFC Saudi Arabia on Feb. 1, 2025.

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When Paulo Costa became candid about his canceled bout with Ikram Aliskerov

In a past appearance on The MMA Hour, Paulo Costa discussed the Ikram Aliskerov fight being canceled.

Costa claimed he was aware that his contest with Aliskerov would not take place since it was only a negotiating technique to persuade him to sign a new UFC contract.

“It’s all about negotiation way. At some point, this [negotiation] took very hard way. But since day one they talk about Ikram, I can tell you it was like 99 percent chance of not happening. It was that kind of, ‘Let’s see, we have this, we don’t have any other fighter available to fight you now.’ Something like that."

Check out Paulo Costa's comments below (2:09:00):