UFC 253: Adesanya vs. Costa will take place on Fight Island and will feature two undisputed championship bouts as the main and co-main events.
The main event of the evening will pit two undefeated stars against each other for a battle to remain undefeated and keep or win the title.
Israel Adesanya comes from New Zealand by way of Nigeria and he is looking to make himself into a global icon in the fashion of Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao and hopes to be able to stop traffic in Nigeria when he fights just like how Pacquiao does in the Philippines whenever he has a fight.
Adesanya gains motivation and inspiration from his Nigerian roots and he will carry that pride into the cage when he puts his title on the line against the brash and macho Brazilian challenger.
Paulo Costa is the number two middleweight in the UFC and won a title shot after defeating Cuban powerhouse Yoel Romero in a close hard-fought unanimous decision.
Costa is known for his power with the majority of his wins coming by way of knockout and he plans on knocking out Adesanya to become the middleweight champion.
In the Co-main event, California’s Dominick Reyes will have another shot at Championship gold after failing to capture the title against Jon Jones in a controversial loss that many cageside observers felt he won.
For Reyes to get the vacant title he will have to take on tough Polish contender Jan Blachowicz who will be challenging for a UFC title for the first time in his long fighting career.
UFC 253 Main PPV Card
Middleweight Championship – Israel Adesanya (Champion) vs. Paulo Costa
Light Heavyweight Championship – Dominick Reyes vs. Jan Blachowicz
Flyweight – Kai Kara-France vs. Brandon Royval
Women’s Bantamweight – Ketlen Vieira vs. Sijara Eubanks
Catchweight (150 lb) – Hakeem Dawodu vs. Zubaira Tukhugov
Preliminary Undercard
Lightweight – Brad Riddell vs. Alex da Silva
Welterweight – Diego Sanchez vs. Jake Matthews
Catchweight (150 lb) – Shane Young vs. Ludovit Klein
Light Heavyweight William Knight vs. Aleksa Camur
Early Preliminary Undercard
Heavyweight – Juan Espino vs. Jeff Hughes
Light Heavyweight – Khadis Ibragimov vs. Danilo Marques
Saturday, September 26, 2020 at at the Flash Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, live stream on ESPN + PPV at 10:00 PM ET/PT (plus.espn.com/ufc/ppv).
