Khamzat Chimaev spills tea on private DM saga with Paulo Costa's girlfriend, reveals Tamara Alves reached out to him first with “money making” message

Khamzat Chimaev may no longer be scheduled to face Paulo Costa, but that does not mean that the feud between them is over. The two men have history, and if the Brazilian bruiser can find a way to make the walk to the octagon, their paths may very well cross again.

Ahead of their now cancelled UFC 294 co-main event, both men took aim at each other on social media, with Costa jokingly expressing fear over a 'handsome' fighter like Khamzat Chimaev privately messaging his girlfriend and manager, Tamara Alves. However, 'Borz' has since responded to the claims.

According to him, Alves was the one who messaged him, before deleting her initial DM. He claims that her message was to merely request that he not take anything Costa said seriously, as the former middleweight title challenger was supposedly just trying to make more money by generating hype for the fight.

He said (3:20:09) as much at UFC 294 Media Day:

"She write to me, 'Please Khamzat, don't take it like serious, he wants to make money,' and she delete that. I just send a picture to her, a funny picture to just have fun. I don't have anything against his wife or anything. She write to me like, it's not personal, we try to make money. I send the picture. I told her, people don't make money that way. He has to be a man. Anyway. Jokes, jokes, I understand. Trash talk, trash talk, has to be one line. Don't jump over this sh*t."

This marks the latest of several instances when Paulo Costa withdrew from a fight. However, Khamzat Chimaev is now set to former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in a bout that has generated more hype from fans.

---

Khamzat Chimaev almost brawled with Paulo Costa

Ahead of his cancelled UFC 279 bout with Nate Diaz, Khamzat Chimaev found himself engaged in a feud with Paulo Costa. The Brazilian drew his ire by predicting a Diaz win and referring to Chimaev as a 'gourmet Chechen,' implying that he was no true Chechen due to his past as a Swede before renouncing his citizenship.

This caused Chimaev to confront Costa at the UFC Performance Institute, as the Brazilian was there training with Jake Shields, a friend and training partner of the Diaz brothers. Fortunately, both men were separated by the fence and cooler heads prevailed.