Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
One of the biggest middleweight clashes of all time will unfold later tonight (Sat., Sept. 26, 2020) at UFC 253 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Flash Forum on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., as undefeated champion Israel Adesanya meets undefeated contender Paulo Costa in the main event.
This fight has been a long time coming. Ever since “Last Stylebender” entered the promotion back in 2018 Costa has been angling for a chance to take his head off. The two middleweights have made things extremely personal over the past year and because of that it has become one of the most anticipated fights of 2020.
When you take into account everything that is going into this title bout — whether it’s the bad blood or undefeated records for both fighters — it may in fact be the most important fight in the history of the UFC’s middleweight division. That isn’t to take away from Anderson Silva’s dominant reign atop the division for nearly a decade, but this Adesanya vs. Costa fight is bringing the weight class to an entirely new level.
Fight fans from around the world will be tuning in to find out which middleweight fighter will suffer their first loss, but when exactly will Adesanya and Costa start their main event?
With four other fights taking place on the PPV main card starting at 10:00 p.m. ET, Adesanya vs. Costa is likely to begin sometime around 12:15 a.m. ET (Sunday). The co-main event will showcase a light heavyweight title fight between top contenders Dominick Reyes and Jan Blachowicz, who are competing for the vacant belt left behind by Jon Jones. Reyes has never been finished in his professional career and Blachowicz has only been stopped once in the past nine years so it’s likely that the co-main event title fight goes deep into the championship rounds.
If things do run late (or even early) Mania will be sure to provide an updated start time for tonight’s Adesanya vs. Costa main event.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 253 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN 2/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance (also on ESPN 2/ESPN+) at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 253: “Adesanya vs. Costa” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.