Sean O'Malley Reacts To Khamzat Chimaev vs. Paulo Costa At UFC 294
Sean O'Malley has given his two cents on the UFC 294 matchup between Khamzat Chimaev and Paulo Costa.
With the UFC's return to Abu Dhabi set for October 21, many wondered if Chimaev would compete on the card and who his opponent would be. Having been out of action since September 2022, Chimaev's return on this card wasn't exactly a given, but he's locked in.
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As for Costa, he was initially expected to face Ikram Aliskerov at UFC 291 on July 29. The UFC reversed course, booking Costa against Chimaev and Aliskerov vs. Nassourdine Imavov, both at UFC 294.
During a new episode of the "BrOMalley Show," Sean O'Malley was in awe of how quickly things changed for Costa.
"Paulo Costa was supposed to fight in what? Two weeks," O'Malley asked.
O'Malley then made a prediction on Chimaev's fighting future post-UFC 294.
"I feel like Khamzat's gonna go to '85 and stay at '85, and look good and be like, 'Okay, this is where [I'm staying],'" O'Malley said.
It'll be interesting to see if that will indeed be Chimaev's plan if he gets past Costa. Chimaev has dabbled in both the welterweight and middleweight divisions. Fans have taken notice of Chimaev's bigger physique to prepare for his middleweight clash against Costa, so O'Malley might be on to something.
Ultimately, the "Sugar" show is expecting UFC 294 to deliver fireworks this fall.
"Abu Dhabi could be trending to be insane," O'Malley said. "[Oliveira] vs. Islam, Paulo vs. Khamzat."
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