UFC 253 is coming up fast on Sept. 26, 2020, from “Fight Island,” in Abu Dhabi, featuring the highly anticipated Middleweight title showdown between Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa. It’s a fight that’s been percolating for years now as the two 185 pounders have taken multiple shots at each other through the media — shots that we’re sure you’ve seen in promos cultivating their feud for maximum promotional effect.
Now with the monumental bout just a week away, UFC has unveiled the full UFC 253 “Countdown” episode to mark the occasion: 47.5 minutes of hype designed to separate you from your $64.99. And we got to say, it does a pretty good job. We were already there after the promotion revealed its two-minute trailers for Adesanya vs. Costa. The “Countdown” show takes you deeper than ever into the recent lives of “The Last Stylebender” and “Borrachinha” and their preparations for this five-round championship fight.
Thirty minutes into the episode, we switch gears toward a much less publicized (but extremely important) match up in the Light Heavyweight division: a fight for the vacant 205-pound title between Dominick Reyes and Jan Blachowicz. Reyes is coming into this fight the uncrowned king of the division after winning a fight against Jon Jones on many fans’ scorecards, only to have the victory snatched away by Texas judges. A decision by Jones to move up to Heavyweight cost Reyes an immediate rematch, but he’ll still get another chance at UFC gold against Blachowicz, who is riding a three-fight win streak and is 7-1 in his last eight bouts.
We can’t wait to see UFC 253 and share with you all the news and highlights and developments that come off the card. Make sure to tune into MMA Mania starting at 6 p.m. ET on Sept. 26, 2020, for all the play-by-play and updates you could ever want. You may be unable to see any of these fights live from “Fight Island,” but we’ll be doing our best to give you more access to all the content that will flow from this major card.
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