UFC middleweight contender Roman Kopylov broke his silence after a disappointing loss in the UFC 318 co-main.
Former UFC title challenger Paulo Costa won his first fight in almost three years by outpointing Roman Kopylov in the UFC 318 co-main event on Saturday. Costa used his signature body kicks to stifle and frustrate Kopylov throughout their three-rounder, and landed a big knockdown early on in the fight that led the way to victory.
Costa earned a unanimous decision victory over Kopylov to return to the win column and the middleweight title mix. Meanwhile, it was another disappointing setback for Kopylov after back-to-back wins entering UFC 318.
Roman Kopylov issues social media statement on UFC 318 co-main loss
Under the biggest spotlight of his UFC career, Kopylov failed to seize the opportunity against Costa and enter the middleweight title picture. Despite this setback, Kopylov has his head in a good place following his UFC 318 defeat.
In a recent post to his Instagram story, Kopylov issued his first public remarks after his loss to Costa at UFC 318.
“The road will be saved by the walking,” Kopylov said.
“Thank God for everything !!! 318 wasn’t ours.”
Kopylov earned recent wins over Chris Curtis and Cesar Almeida before the loss to Costa. He knocked out Curtis with a head kick in January in one of the nastiest finishes of the year.
Meanwhile, Costa returned to the win column in impressive fashion at UFC 318 in a performance that drew rave reviews from Jon Jones and others. After his victory, Costa had one man on his mind for his next potential UFC appearance.
Paulo Costa’s feud with Khamzat Chimaev hit a new level at UFC 318
Costa and undefeated middleweight contender Khamzat Chimaev have had bad blood for months, stemming from their scheduled booking at UFC 294. Costa was forced to withdraw from UFC 294 due to injury, and was replaced by former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.
Since that night, things haven’t cooled down between Costa and Chimaev, two of the most colorful personalities in the middleweight division. Costa accused Chimaev of harassing his girlfriend via DMs before and immediately after his UFC 318 win.
Chimaev has since denied Costa’s claims, despite screenshotted DMs being leaked on social media on Monday. Chimaev will face UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis in the UFC 319 main event next month in Chicago.
While Costa’s desired Chimaev fight might not come to fruition immediately after UFC 318, he has a plan in mind to make the grudge match inevitable. If Chimaev wins the middleweight title at UFC 318, don’t be surprised if Costa publicly calls for the next title shot to settle their beef.