UFC 253 is set to hold on September 26 at the UFC Fight Island, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. This is the first fight that would usher in the second series of fights on Fight Island. The fixture would hold without fans present on the site but it would be available for streaming on a pay-per-view basis.

The main fixture for the night is the Middleweight fight between Israel Adesanya and Paul Costa. Both fighters are currently undefeated and this is the first time in over 10 years where we would have two fighters with an unblemished record face each other in the octagon.

The fight could have happened earlier this year in UFC 248 but due to the unavailability of Costa, Adesanya had to face Yoel Romero instead. Now, all plans are set for the two fighters and one thing is sure about that day – one of those fighters would leave the ring that night with a loss on their record. Adesanya has a career record of 19 wins out of 19 fights, 14 of them won by knockout.

He also has a professional boxing record of 6 fights with no loss. Brazilian fighter Paul Costa has a record of 13 wins out of 13 fights, 11 of them by knockout. Both started their MMA career at roughly the same time in 2012, but Israel has fought more fights and has been able to emerge victorious in all of them. UFC president Dana White has aptly dubbed the fixture the “fight of the year” and at this point, no one can doubt the words of White.

Added to the lineup is a fixture featuring Light Heavyweight fighters Dominick Reyes vs. Jan Blachowicz. Both fighters would battle for a title that was made vacant by Jon jones just last month.

The fights at Fight Island are meant to take place over a course of weeks from September to October and there are rumours that we could get a Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje fixture to crown up the series.

Written by: Leon Osamor