UFC 253 Video: Watch Israel Adesanya Vs. Paulo Costa Countdown

The UFC returns to Fight Island in Abu Dhabi for Saturday’s UFC 253 pay-per-view card. The event features two title fights at the top of the card.

The headlining bout sees UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya against Paulo Costa. Adesanya won the title in October 2019 with a knockout win over Robert Whittaker. Adesanya’s first defense of the title came in March of this year when he defeated Yoel Romero in a bout that UFC president Dana White was not happy with because of its lack of action. Adesanya won that contest via decision.

In every interview he has given about UFC 253, White has promised that Costa will force Adesanya to engage and that this will be a “fight of the year” candidate.

Adesanya seems to agree with White. He expects a firefight, but he feels he will prevail. “What’s going to be his downfall is his lacklusterness,” said Adesanya. “When it comes to me, he thinks like ahh, he’s just going to walk through whatever I throw at him. Alright, I welcome him to try.”

Costa is coming off a decision win over Romero. That fight, Costa’s 13th as a pro, was the first time he went the distance. Like Adesanya, who is 19-0, Costa has a perfect 13-0 record.

Costa told Jimmy Smith that he is taking this fight personally, “Adesanya is a disrespectful fighter. Everybody knows, and if you don’t know just Google his name and you will see him talk bad things about the American people. So that’s why I don’t like him. He says disrespectful things about me also so I brought this fight as a personal fight.”

UFC 253 takes place in Abu Dhabi. The main card streams on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN+ and ESPN2 and early prelims on ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass.