Khamzat Chimaev doesn’t see Paulo Costa getting past Ikram Aliskerov at UFC 291. Costa (14-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) is booked to face Aliskerov (14-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) on July 29 at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City. Chimaev handed Aliskerov his first and only loss when he knocked him out with an uppercut in 2019 in what was just the fifth professional fight of Chimaev’s career. Aliskerov since has won six straight and most recently scored a first-round knockout of Phil Hawes in his promotional debut at UFC 288. Former title challenger Costa is considered a big step up in competition for Aliskerov, but Chimaev sees the Sambo champion getting his hand raised. Chimaev and Costa were on a collision course – even getting into an altercation at the UFC Performance Institute , but were never booked to fight
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Khamzat Chimaev: Paulo Costa is ‘sh*t,’ will lose to Ikram Aliskerov at UFC 291 – MMA Junkie