UFC 318 storylines: Costa eyes ‘coward’ Chimaev, but needs to win first

Paulo Costa does not like Khamzat Chimaev and says they “need to fight” each other at some point.

Costa returns to action this weekend against rising middleweight contender Roman Kopylov in the penultimate bout of UFC 318, but this week he has been talking more about Chimaev than his opponent.

“I want to fight him very badly. I want to hurt him,” Costa said of Chimaev when speaking with reporters Wednesday at the UFC 318 media day.

Costa is not currently in the title picture at 185 pounds, while Chimaev is slated to challenge middleweight champ Dricus Du Plessis for the belt at next month’s UFC 319, so the most realistic path to a Chimaev vs. Costa showdown, at least in the relatively near future, would be if Costa can pull off the upset against Kopylov this weekend and Chimaev loses to Du Plessis

The pair had a brief altercation at the UFC Performance Institute in 2022 and were scheduled to fight each other in October of 2023, but it never came to fruition with Costa withdrawing due to an elbow infection.

That tension has yet to simmer and Costa explained that Chimaev has apparently contacted his girlfriend through DMs on social media and shared some insulting words about Costa.

“Doesn’t matter if he (wins or loses) that fight (with Du Plessis). We need to fight. He talk very bad things about me. … This is totally personal. I feel angry just to hear his name so we need to fight.

“Coward. He is a coward.”

The one-time middleweight title challenger began his pro MMA career 12-0 and his UFC tenure 5-0. Costa earned a title shot in 2020 against then-champ Israel Adesanya but fell short at UFC 253.

Costa has lost four of his past five fights overall, but all three of his losses in the middleweight division – his other loss took place at 205 pounds – have been against champions. He lost decisions to Robert Whittaker and Sean Strickland both in 2024.

Just like UFC 318 headliner Dustin Poirier, Costa has not fought since UFC 302 last June. As an aside, Kevin Holland was also on that UFC 302 card and faces Daniel Rodriguez on the UFC 318 main card in what will be Holland’s fifth appearance since UFC 302.

Costa, 34, has only fought five times in the past five years and has had to withdraw from multiple scheduled matchups due to either illness or injury.

Meanwhile, Kopylov is a dynamic striker who has won six of his past seven. The 34-year-old Russian is coming off a last-second technical knockout win over Chris Curtis in January in a bout that won Fight of the Night and Kopylov ended with a head kick in the waning seconds of the final round.

Costa and Kopylov are ranked No. 13 and No. 14, respectively, in the middleweight division entering the weekend.

Allen, Vettori finally meet, this time in a cage

The last time Brendan Allen and Marvin Vettori fought each other it was in the lobby of a casino. This weekend, they’ll settle their differences in a featured preliminary bout at UFC 318.

Last August, after the middleweights attended a PFL event in Florida to support various teammates who were competing on the card, there was an altercation where punches were thrown.

Allen recounted the brief brawl this week, saying it began when Vettori took a couple swings at UFC light-heavyweight fighter Tuco Tokkos, who’s a teammate of Allen’s at Kill Cliff FC in Florida. UFC lightweight Michael Johnson, who’s set to open Saturday’s main card against Daniel Zellhuber, then moved spectators out of the way and that’s when Allen charged at Vettori.

Videos on social media showed Allen stepping in and throwing multiple punches at Vettori, who had an injured shoulder at the time, before the pair crashed into a roulette table and were separated.

Vettori returned from a two-year absence in March but lost a five-round decision to Roman Dolidze in a Fight Night main event. The 31-year-old Italian said this week the matchup with Allen is personal even though Allen said it isn’t. Vettori will also be fighting with a heavy heart, competing for the first time since his younger brother died tragically in April.

Vettori is the No. 10-ranked contender at 185 pounds with Allen at No. 11.

Allen will be looking to snap a two-fight skid coming off three-round unanimous decision losses to Nassourdine Imavov and Anthony Hernandez in the past 10 months. Allen, 29, fights out of Covington, La., and should have the home crowd in New Orleans on his side.

Will we get a better showing from Pitbull?

Longtime Bellator MMA champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire didn’t endear himself to UFC fans during his organizational debut earlier this year, putting forth a pedestrian effort in a unanimous decision loss to Yair Rodriguez at UFC 314 in April.

He’s going up against Dan Ige, who’ll be stepping into the Octagon for the 20th time since 2018. Although Ige has a sub-.500 record over the past five years, the 33-year-old is coming off an upset knockout win over Sean Woodson at UFC 314 just three fights prior to Pitbull’s debut. Ige is 19-9 as a pro but has never been finished.

“I will be the first to knock him out or submit him,” Pitbull said Wednesday.

The 38-year-old Brazilian added that if he gets by Ige he plans on turning his attention to Aaron Pico, a former Bellator rival who signed with the UFC earlier this year.

Poirier’s special guest for final walkout

Dustin Poirier made his UFC debut on Jan. 25, 2011, and the entrance music he chose for his first walk to the Octagon was the song “Drop the World” by Lil Wayne.

Saturday night for his farewell fight, Poirier will be joined by Lil Wayne in person for his final walk to the cage. The rapper is from New Orleans and Poirier may play a sample of one of his songs during the walk but Poirier also confirmed this week James Brown’s The Boss, which has become his go-to walkout music, will be playing throughout the Smoothie King Center.

There are a handful of promising up-and-comers on the undercard who’ll be looking to make a positive impression on fight fans.

Ateba Gautier is a 23-year-old from Cameroon with plenty of hype surrounding him. He earned a UFC contract with a stoppage win on the Contender Series in September and impressed in his official UFC debut in March by finishing the durable Jose Medina with a knee in just 3:32. He’s taking on TUF 32 veteran Robert Valentin who was held down by Torrez Finney in a frustrating loss April loss. Valentin, 30 from Switzerland, is a dangerous finisher and a tough challenge for Gauthier.

We haven’t seen Daniel Zellhuber since the young Mexican’s memorable split decision loss to Esteban Robovics at UFC 306, which was one of the best fights of 2024. Zellhuber, who turned 26 earlier this month, will be tested against the veteran savvy and knockout power of Michael Johnson on the main card. Johnson is 39 and has competed against the best of the best of his era, including posting a KO win over Poirier, and is riding a two-win win streak.

Kyler Phillips vs. Vinicius Oliveira is one of the most compelling matchups on the card. The bantamweight bout is the featured prelim and the winner will look to rise up the rankings at 135 pounds. Phillips is ranked No. 12 in the division and holds win over the likes of Song Yadong and Raoni Barcelos, both of which have aged well. Oliveira is the No. 15 contender and entering as the betting favourite with a 3-0 UFC record. Phillips lost to Rob Font in his most recent outing. This could be an early contender for Fight of the Night.  

Jackson McVey is the lone undefeated fighter on the card and set to make his UFC debut against Brunno Ferreira, which is a tough first task. The middleweight was expected to debut last month at UFC 317 but his scheduled matchup with Chris Ewert was cancelled when Ewert missed weight and was subsequently cut from the UFC roster. Despite the fight being cancelled, McVey still made weight to earn his show money at UFC 317.

McVey, 26, is 6-0 from Missouri with half his wins coming by KO/TKO and half by submission. Ferreira has won three of his past four, has big power and is coming off a submission win over Armen Petrosyan in March.