Earlier tonight (Saturday, September, 26th. 2020) UFC 253: Adesanya vs. Costa took place from the Flash Forum on ‘Fight Island’ on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Taking main event status, UFC middleweight champion, Israel ‘The Last Stylebender’ Adesanya lodged the second successful defence of his ever-growing middleweight legacy, with a rather one-sided knockout win over challenger, Paulo ‘The Eraser’ Costa. Scoring a multitude of leg kicks to a seemingly gunshy, Costa – the City Kickboxing mainstay managed to draw some claret from the right eyebrow of the Belo Horizonte native with a left head kick, before countering with a check left hook – resulting in a knockdown. Leaping to guard, Adesanya rained down with strikes, forcing referee Jason Herzog to jump to Costa’s defence.
In our first of two title fights of the night, Poland crowned their newest UFC titleholder, as Jan Blachowicz claimed vacant light heavyweight spoils with a crushing second-round knockout win over Californian striker, Dominick ‘The Devastator’ Reyes. Ripping the body with a stiff kick on the end of multiple combinations, Blachowicz managed to stop Reyes with strikes in the pocket in the second-round – finishing up with ground-and-pound to claim the 205-pound throne.
Taking Fight of the Night bonuses, our flyweight main card clash between exciting contenders, Kai ‘Don’t Blink’ Kara-France, and Brandon ‘Raw Dawg’ Royval. In an explosive back-and-forth in the opening frame, both scored quickfire knockdowns, with Royval connecting with a spinning back-fist, as Kara-France found home with a massive right hand. Surviving an early guillotine attempt, the latter fell victim early in the second frame, with Royval submitting the New Zealand native with a second-round attempt. Royval adds Kara-France to a debut Octagon victory over one-time title challenger, Tim Elliott in May of this year.
In the first of our two Performance of the Night bonuses, the above named, B?achowicz scored the light heavyweight crown as well as an additional $50,000 payday. The former KSW light heavyweight best extended his undefeated run to four-fights off the back of his finish of Reyes, adding the Hesperia native to a winning streak which includes recent Bellator signing, Corey Anderson, and former Strikeforce middlewieght champions, Jacaré Souza, and Luke Rockhold.
Despite former two-time gold holder, Jon Jones vacating the throne in search of spoils a division higher in a long-awaited move, B?achowicz still called for a pairing with the former, with Jones sitting front-row during the Pole’s UFC Fight Night Rio Rancho demolition of the above mentioned, Anderson.
Taking our final bonus of the night with Performance of the Night spoils, curtain-closer, Adesanya. Following up his rather forgettable March title defence opposite multiple-time title challenger, Yoel ‘The Soldier of God’ Romero – Adesanya was back to his sparkling best with a second-round battering of Costa.