Paulo Costa injury update: Will he still fight Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294? (PHOTOS)

On Monday, Oct. 9 Paulo Costa shocked MMA fans when he revealed he'd undergone surgery on his arm just five weeks before he's scheduled to fight Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294.

“How strong are you? You never really know until you get tested by fire of life,” Costa wrote on Twitter. “I did surgery three weeks ago, 10 [stitches] size. But I know how tough I’m and continues improving and overcoming myself. It doesn’t stop me, still doing my things, sparring and everything. I’m so [blessed], God gives me exceptional condition, and surrounded my by great people.”

LOOK: Paulo Costa shared several images of an elbow injury

Costa appeared on the MMA Hour on Monday afternoon to reveal more details about his injury.

“When the doctor told me it was necessary to open [up my elbow], I was with my team, Eric [Albarracin] and Tamara [Alves], everybody was there, and I just asked doctors how long it would take to remove these stitches,” Costa said. “They say, ‘OK, we are five weeks to the fight right now, and you need to stay with stitches in your elbow for two weeks. So after two weeks, we’re going to remove that and we’re left with two weeks for you to train."

Yeah, two whole weeks. To face Chimaev. WOW. Apparently Costa thinks it's plenty of time to be ready for the fight.

“I said, ‘That’s good. That’s good news. That’s enough.’ Two weeks is enough to train, because I am in shape, I’m ready. I came ready to this fight. I’ve been calling [out] this guy to fight, Gourmet Chen Chen, a long time ago. You know that. I was on your show when I was talking about him and I’ve chased this guy, and I know he wants one excuse to get out of this fight. He doesn’t want that fight. I want this fight so bad and I will not let him [escape so] easily. So I just asked them, ‘Please, keep me in the fight.’ I even asked [the doctor] to not let the UFC know, but that was not possible, so they reported everything to the UFC.”

And what about the UFC? Surely they'd step in?

“[UFC] are just worried about me because [of the surgery],” he added. “I took 10 days off to [get the procedure] in Brazil, and here [I took off] 14 more days before and after surgery. So they’re a little bit worried about my health. But I’m sparring, I’m doing everything.”

Costa is looking to return to action on Oct. 21 when he fights Chimaev at middleweight. The fight is taking place in he Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi and at press time, is set to go on, despite the injury.