Nigeria’s Israel Adesanya on Saturday night in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. beat Paulo Costa, in a TKO at 2 minutes, 59 seconds of the second round in the main event of UFC 253 to retain his UFC middleweight title.
It was only the second time in UFC history that two undefeated male fighters met in a title fight, and the first time since Rashad Evans vs. Lyoto Machida for the light heavyweight belt in 2009.
It was his second defence of the title after a title defense win over Yoel Romero at UFC 248 in March.
The card took place at the recently built Flash Forum on Yas Island, which the UFC has dubbed “Fight Island.” The promotion did its July slate of fights in Abu Dhabi and has returned for five weeks to Yas Island beginning with this card.
Adesanya butchered Costa’s lead leg with hard calf kicks from the very first minute of the fight. Costa attempted to bait Adesanya in the first round, putting his hands behind his back and sticking out his tongue. Adesanya kept his composure, stayed on the outside against the powerful Costa and peppered him with shots from distance.
In the second round, Costa’s taunts had stopped but Adesanya’s attacks did not. He continued the onslaught on Costa’s left leg and mixed in punching combinations. Adesanya cut Costa with a hard left head kick, which was the beginning of the end. After catching a Costa body kick, Adesanya ripped off a nasty combination, culminating in a left hook to Costa’s ear. Costa dropped, Adesanya got on top of him and landed punches on the ground until referee Jason Herzog called the fight.
Adesanya (20-0) knocked out Robert Whittaker to unify the middleweight title at UFC 243 on Oct. 6, 2019. He was the interim champion before that. The Nigerian-born New Zealander has won all nine of his UFC fights.
