Paulo Costa has successfully reignited his rivalry against Khamzat Chimaev before his UFC 318 fight against Roman Kopylov. Costa and Chimaev were slated to fight at UFC 294 but ‘The Eraser’ injured his elbow for which he had to undergo surgery. Hence, his fight against ‘Borz’ never materialised. Chimaev was pretty upset with the pullout. In his apparent rage, the Chechen Wolf made the mistake of sending outrageous messages to Costa’s girlfriend, Tamara Alves. The Brazilian made sure to highlight that once again at the pre-fight presser.
During the UFC 318 pre-fight press conference, a reporter asked ‘Borrachinha’ if he’d go for a KO against Kopylov, or surprise him with a grappling session. After all, Kopylov has never been knocked out before. Two of his three losses have come from rear-naked chokes. Costa wasted no time and answered, “I definitely go to knock him out on Saturday, because look this energy. Look this energy. I will take advantage of this energy and I gonna bring a lot emotion, action, and I’m gonna knock him here out.”
He clarified that he had nothing against the Russian middleweight star. But till Saturday night, he’s going to “hate him.” Then, his rivalry against Khamzat Chimaev got brought up.
After ‘The Eraser’ promised to use the New Orleans energy to KO Kopylov, another reporter asked him if he had a message for ‘Borz’. This reminded Costa of his reignited hatred for the Chechen Wolf, with his focus likely on Chimaev’s messages for Alves.
‘The Eraser’ said, “Yes, you guys know about that already. Everybody knows about that. I have a mutual hate. After this fight I’m gonna send a message for him. But until then, you need to wait to watch.” The #13 middleweight contender confirmed that right now, he’s focused on Kopylov. But his true wrath was directed at Chimaev. He continued, “I have a plan after that. And I have unfinished business with Chimaev. And yes, I’m gonna face him sooner or later.”
My boys on a sick one pic.twitter.com/041uuSkmub
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) July 17, 2025
MMA media outlet Spinning Backfist shared the same on X, where fight fans revealed their thoughts. And the Chechen undefeated middleweight contender happened to stumble across the post. Replying to it, he wrote, “Bro, what’s going on with you? Don’t start to cry please,” followed by three laughing emojis.
But the fighting community was a bit too focused on Costa’s demeanor instead of his words. While talking about Chimaev, Paulo Costa kept shaking and the fans blamed it on the infamous ‘secret juice’.
Fans cite ‘secret juice’ for Paulo Costa’s shaking at UFC 318 pre-fight presser
Paulo Costa made a name for himself with his ‘secret juice’. According to the middleweight contender, it’s a drink that apparently gives him special powers and helps in maintaining his physique. It’s a also a nod—a parody of sorts—of the accusations by some, that Costa is “on the juice” given his Herculean physique.
At the Brazilian shaking, one fan commented, “Secret juice is working!” Another fan wrote, “Tweakin off the secret juice.” One more fan claimed, “Paulo got the juices flowin’ .” Costa previously hinted that the ‘secret juice’ recipe has ginger, lemon, tamarind, etc., and is a beverage to help him cut weight. But fans still believe that it’s some sort of PED. One fan reflected on this and wrote, “Need to dr*g test this man, he looks cracked out.”
Meanwhile, a few others put the blame on the extreme weight cut that fighters often go through before their fights. Shaking prior to the weigh-ins is a sign of physician strain. Fighters are left dehydrated with extreme electrolyte imbalance, which leads to tremors. On top of that, Costa weighed 206 pounds on 2nd July, as revealed through one of his X posts.
This means that he has to shed off more than 45 pounds to make weight. One fan reflected on this and wrote, “weight cut must be going terribly, i wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up pulling out or missing weight by a lot.” One more fan commented, “Straight tweaking on speed, probably for the cut. That looks really unsafe.”
On the other hand, another group of fans claimed that the shaking was due to social anxiety. One fan claimed, “costa def has social anxiety.” One more fan weighed in on the Brazilian’s usually happy and laid back demeanor. He wrote, “Costas anxiety kicked in hard here. Odd, he’s usually solid.” What do you think? Is his shaking linked to ‘secret juice’? Is it all because of his wrath for Chimaev? Or is it just nerves after a long absence?
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