On Saturday, Sept. 26, the UFC hosted UFC 253: Adesanya vs. Costa from Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The event once again featured no fans in attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the night’s main event, undefeated middleweight king Israel Adesanya defended his title against fellow unbeated Paulo Costa. The decorated kickboxer Adesanya stretched his record to 19-0 with a successful title defense against Yoel Romero at UFC 248 in March. Brazil’s Costa was also coming off a victory over Romero, a UFC 241 “Fight of the Night” performance against the Cuban.
Gold was also on the line in the co-main event as Dominick Reyes met Poland’s Jan Błachowicz for the vacant 205-pound strap.
The event kicked off with six fights airing on both ESPN 2 and ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET. The five-fight main card followed live on ESPN+ pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET.
For the full results of the event, click here.
Above is live video of the event’s post-fight press conference, which kicks off approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the main event between Adesanya and Costa.