5 reasons why the UFC should book Khamzat Chimaev vs. Paulo Costa next

#2. It's the only middleweight fight that makes sense for Costa

Paulo Costa is at a crossroads in his career. He was once undefeated with a signature win over Yoel Romero.

Prior to facing Israel Adesanya for the UFC middleweight championship, Costa had established himself as a serious contender for UFC gold. However, his efforts at UFC 253 ended in disaster as he suffered a one-sided defeat. Worse still, seconds after being TKO'd by 'The Last Stylebender', Costa was on the receiving end of a post-fight humiliation.

Afterwards, the general assumption was that 'Borrachinha' was intent on rebuilding himself with the hope of working his way back into title contention. Unfortunately, in his very next bout against Marvin Vettori, Costa abandoned his weight cut and forced the promotion's hand.

Vettori agreed to face the Brazilian bruiser at light heavyweight and Costa ended up losing the matchup via unanimous decision.

Despite his recent win over Luke Rockhold at UFC 278, there is no clear path moving forward for Costa. However, a matchup with Khamzat Chimaev makes perfect sense as it answers key questions about Costa's place in the middleweight division while featuring an easily promotable rivalry.

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#1. The matchup is versatile

The potential matchup between Khamzat Chimaev and Paulo Costa is versatile from a booking standpoint. The two fighters are well-known enough so they can serve as either a co-main event for a weak PPV card or as the main event for one of the UFC's Fight Night cards. The matchup is certain to draw viewers who are eager to follow both fighters' trajectories.

While the UFC works hard to provide interesting pay-per-view events for fight fans, sometimes a shortage of high-profile fighters leads to subpar matchups that fail to draw fan interest. Due to Khamzat Chimaev's recent visibility from almost fighting Nate Diaz and all of the drama surrounding his out-of-cage antics, fans will tune in to any bout that features him.

However, given Paulo Costa's recent confrontation with Chimaev at the UFC Performance Institute, there's a surge of interest in a matchup between the two. Thus, a high-profile bout involving both men is sure to fill seats.