Khamzat Chimaev vows to “smash” Paulo Costa and make him “cry” at UFC 294: “Nobody likes him”

Khamzat Chimaev is confident he will beat Paulo Costa with ease at UFC 294.

Chimaev is set to make his return to the middleweight division in Abu Dhabi in October when he faces Costa. It’s an intriguing matchup and it’s a fight that finally ends both of their layoffs. However, according to the Swede, he has been trying to fight but Kamaru Usman kept turning him down.

“I don’t know, I make everyone scared. Usman said, he’s the boogie man, and all these guys think that about me, but when it comes to the fight, they have some surgeries, some problems,” Chimaev said to TNT Spots. “So, I don’t know, I fight with everybody. Ask Dana White, I never say no. I’m ready always. Yeah, I’ve been out for a long time, so I’ve been training all the time. When big money comes, maybe it’s hard to make fights for me.”

According to Khamzat Chimaev, he was fine making welterweight as long as the UFC gave him several weeks’ notice. However, the promotion opted to book Chimaev at UFC 294 and he vows to smash Paulo Costa and make him cry in the cage.

RELATED: Sean Strickland tells the UFC he has a price in order to fight Israel Adesanya at UFC 293.

“I’m going to make that guy cry in the cage, yeah, like I always do… Smash. Smash somebody, make money. To make that guy cry and go home. Nobody likes him. All the Brazilians support me. That guy is not Brazilian. So I’m going to go smash this guy, make him cry,” Chimaev said.

Khamzat Chimaev has opened a sizeable betting favorite over Paulo Costa so the oddsmakers are expecting the Swede to smash the Brazilian and get the win.

If Chimaev does beat Costa in October, he could very well earn a middleweight title shot or perhaps he will look to fight one more time. Regardless, Chimaev says he wants to be more active and start smashing more fighters after he beats Costa.