Israel Adesanya v Paulo Costa: everything you need to know about UFC 253

The spotlight again falls on New Zealand mixed martial arts this weekend with Israel Adesanya and three of his City Kickboxing teammates traveling to ‘Fight Island’ for UFC 253 in Abu Dhabi.

In a main event blockbuster between two undefeated fighters, Adesanya (19-0) risks his middleweight championship against Brazilian powerhouse Paulo Costa (13-0).

Here’s everything you need to know about that showdown and more ahead of Sunday’s undercard.

What’s the deal with ‘Fight Island’?

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With the coronavirus pandemic wreaking havoc with live events and global travel, the UFC came up with the concept of staging fights on Yas Island of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, to allow the promotion’s international athletes to compete.

When UFC boss Dana White first made it public in April with few details, the idea sounded like something out of a martial arts movie, drawing pictures of fights taking place somewhere tropical surrounded by water.

In reality, Yas Island is a highly developed tourist destination and the entire operation takes place in a designated ‘safe zone’ that is closed to the public.

The fighters and support personnel meet at The W Abu Dhabi, a five-star complex surrounded by the Yas Marina circuit, home to the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

And just as well as the beachside octagon looks in the promo material, the events take place on a covered sand without the attendance of fans.

Who is Paulo Costa?

Like Adesanya, the Brazilian caused quite a stir when he first entered the UFC in 2017. However, an injury and a six-month suspension for receiving banned intravenous infusions crippled his momentum.

Costa has only fought once in the past two years: a close unanimous decision victory over Yoel Romero in August 2019. Still, with all but one of his five UFC victories within the distance, he has built a reputation as a devastating finisher, and there’s no question this is currently the biggest fight that can be made in the division.

What is the history between Adesanya and Costa and how do they coincide?

Having entered the UFC with high expectations, the pair have been on a collision course almost since Adesanya made her promotional debut, and have traded picks during the same time.

Explaining their heated rivalry, Adesanya said this week that it just boils down to the fact that they don’t like each other.

“Sometimes you see someone and you just don’t like their energy … We can do something about it,” he said.

It has clearly risen since Adesanya claimed the undisputed title. Costa has been caged for his last two fights, which ended with the Kiwi facing him and ‘The Eraser’ threatening to storm the Octagon.

The showdown, meanwhile, pits Costa’s power, physique, and relentless pressure against Adesanya’s precision punch, movement, and fighting IQ. Costa is determined to show that he has more than just a power play. However, finding a way to catch Adesanya is easier said than done if ‘The Last Stylebender’, who has a 10cm range advantage, is able to nullify his strength and separate him with his variety of punches. .

Kiwi invasion

The UFC’s second run on ‘Fight Island’ has a distinctive Kiwi flavor with Kai Kara-France, Brad Riddell and Shane Young completing the City Kickboxing foursome.

Joining Adesanya on the main card, seventh-ranked flyweight Kara-France takes on No. 9 Brandon Royval as he looks to get closer to a title shot. In the preliminaries, Riddell will attempt to make three of three in the UFC against Brazilian lightweight Alex Da Silva, while featherweight Shane Young returns to the Octagon for the first time in 19 months against Slovakian Ludovit Klein.

And there could still be more kiwis in action for the next few weeks. King in the Ring champions Blood Diamond and Carlos Ulberg, who train at the Auckland gym, have also made the journey and are ready to step up if the UFC calls them.

Meanwhile, the co-main event features another title fight for the vacant light heavyweight crown between American Dominick Reyes and Pole Jan Blachowicz.

How to watch

Think of the fighters, who are faced with a very early wake-up call. With no fans present, the time slot is scheduled for US television, with the first preliminaries set to begin at 3 a.m. local time (noon NZ) and the main card starting at 6 a.m.

In New Zealand, the preliminaries are broadcast live on ESPN 2 (from noon) and Prime (1 pm) before coverage switches to Sky Arena, their pay-per-view service, for the main card starting at 3 pm The main card can also be purchased at Sky Sport Now Pay-Per-View for $ 39.95.

Tape tale

Israel ‘The Last Master of Style’ Adesanya

Age: 31

Country: New Zealand / Nigeria

Record: 19-0 (8-0 in UFC)

Weight: 84kg

Height: 1.94 m

Reach: 203cm

Leg reach: 113 cm

Paulo ‘The Eraser’ Costa

Age: 29

Brazil country

Record: 13-0 (5-0 in UFC)

Weight: 84kg

Height: 1.83 m

Reach: 183cm

Leg reach: 100cm

UFC 253: Adesanya v Costa

12:00 pm Sunday (New Zealand time), Flash Forum, Abu Dhabi

Principal card

Israel Adesanya (c) vs Paulo Costa

Dominick Reyes v Jan Blachowicz

Kai kara-france v brandon royval

Ketlen Vieira v Sijara Eubanks

Hakeem Dawodu vs. Zubaira Tukhugov

Preliminaries

Brad Riddell vs. Alex da Silva

Diego Sanchez v Jake Matthews

Shane Young vs. Ludovit Klein

William Knight vs. Aleksa Camur

First preliminaries

Juan Espino v Jeff Hughes

Khadis Ibragimov vs. Danilo Marques