UFC 253 fight card -- Israel Adesanya vs. Paulo Costa: Date, start time.
By Brent Brookhouse


A long-awaited fight for the middleweight championship and a showdown for the vacant light heavyweight championship will headline the UFC 253 pay-per-view event on Saturday, Sept. 26. UFC 253 will mark the return to Fight Island as the promotion heads back to Yas Island in Abu Dhabi for a second round after recently setting up camp in Las Vegas.

In the main event, Israel Adesanya will put his middleweight title on the line in his second title defense, taking on Paulo Costa in what has developed into a grudge match. Adesanya won the title last October by knocking out Robert Whittaker. He then beat Yoel Romero in March in a highly disappointing fight by decision. Adesanya is 19-0 in his career and 8-0 in the Octagon, with all eight UFC victories coming since February 2018. Costa is 13-0 in his career and a massive man for the 185-pound division. He has ended 11 of his 13 career fights by knockout.

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The second title fight on this card should also deliver the goods when Dominick Reyes battles Jan Blachowicz for the vacant light heavyweight crown. Reyes is coming off his first professional loss in dropping a disputed decision to Jon Jones for the title in February -- a fight many believed he did enough to win. He gets a red-hot Blachowicz standing across the cage from him who has won seven of his last eight fights with some devastating knockouts to boot.


Also on the card is a legend of the sport making perhaps one of his final walks to the Octagon in Diego Sanchez. Sanchez, who competed on the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter" TV show, will faces Jake Matthews at welterweight. Matthews has won five of his last six while Sanchez is 3-1 since 2018. Though, his last win over Michel Pereira came via disqualification for an illegal knee.

CBS Sports will be with you throughout the week leading up to UFC 253 with our complete guide to all the action below. Keep up with the latest storylines, news and updates from Fight Island, as well as the latest odds from William Hill Sportsbook below.


UFC 253 fight card, odds
Israel Adesanya (c) -180 vs. Paulo Costa +155, middleweight title
Dominick Reyes -270 vs. Jan Blachowicz +220, vacant light heavyweight title
Kai Kara-France -240 vs. Brandon Rovyal +200, flyweights
Ketlen Viera -190 vs. Sijara Eubanks +145, women's bantamweights
Zubaira Tukhugov -120 vs. Hakeem Dawodu +100, featherweights
Jake Matthews -700 vs. Diego Sanchez +500, welterweights
Brad Riddell -330 vs. Alex da Silva +260, lightweights
Shane Young -125 vs. Ludovit Klein +105, featherweights
Aleksa Camur -165 vs. William Knight +140, light heavyweights
Juan Espino -300 vs. Jeff Hughes +240, heavyweights
Khadis Ibragimov -160 vs. Danilo Marques +135, light heavyweights
UFC 253 info
Date: Sept. 26
Location: Fight Island -- Abu Dhabi
Start time: 10 p.m. ET (Main card)
How to watch: ESPN+ pay-per-view
UFC 253 Countdown
Expert picks and predictions for every main card fight
Breaking down every fight scheduled for the main card
Question and Answer time with Israel Adesanya
Everything you need to know about Fight Island
Five biggest storylines to watch in Abu Dhabi
Who will win Adesanya vs. Costa, and how will each fight end? Visit SportsLine now to get detailed picks on every fight at UFC 253, all from the incomparable expert who's up almost $20,000 on MMA in the past 20 months and nailed 20 of the last 24 main events.



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