How to watch UFC 253 Adesanya vs. Costa on ESPN+ PPV
Israel Adesanya reacts after defeating Derek Brunson during the first round of a middleweight mixed martial arts bout at UFC 230, Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018, at Madison Square Garden in New York. Julio Cortez | The Associated PressIt’s a return to Fight Island at UFC 253, as undefeated Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya faces undefeated challenger Paulo Costa at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, September 26 (9/26/2020). UFC 253: Adesyana vs. Costa is a pay per view event that can be streamed exclusively on ESPN Plus. In the main event, Israel Adesanya (19-0-0), a.k.a. “The Last Stylebender,” defends his Middleweight title for the second time after he unified the championship against Robert Whittaker at UFC 243. His opponent, Brazilian Paulo “The Eraser” Costa (13-0-0), is the No. 2 middleweight fighter. The two shared a tense stare down at the pre-grudge match press conference on Thursday. Take a look. Adesanya will be going for his ninth straight UFC Victory on Saturday, and ESPN asked some of his past opponents what it’s like to square off against the Nigerian-born New Zealander.“He’s a very smart fighter,” said Alex Pereira, who beat Adesanya at Glory Kickboxing 7 in 2017. “Loose and smart, using techniques at the right time to not expend too much energy. Adesanya is very good at getting a guy to make a bad mistake and expend energy unnecessarily.”In the second title bout of the night, Dominick Reyes (12-1-0) will face Jan Blachowicz (26-8-0) for the UFC Light Heavyweight belt, which was vacated by Rochester, New York’s Jon Jones in August over salary negotiation issues and a desire to compete at heavyweight. It will be Reyes' second attempt at the title, after challenging Jones and losing at UFC 247. The main fight card starts at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN Plus Pay Per View, with the preliminary bouts at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN 2 and ESPN Plus, and early prelims at 7 p.m. on ESPN 2 and ESPN Plus. Here’s a look at the rest of the main card for Saturday:Middleweight Title Fight: Israel Adesanya vs. Paulo CostaLight Heavyweight Title Fight: Dominick Reyes vs. Jan BlachowiczFlyweight: Kai Kara-France vs. Brandon RovyalWomen’s Bantamweight: Ketlen Viera vs. Sijara EubanksFeatherweight: Zubaira Tukhugov vs. Hakeem DawoduAnd here’s the full lineup for the prelims, which can be viewed on ESPN Plus and ESPN 2 (available through fuboTV, Sling and Hulu with Live TV):Welterweight: Jake Matthews vs. Diego SanchezLightweight: Brad Riddell vs. Alex da SilvaFeatherweight: Shane Young vs. Ludovit KleinLight Heavyweight: Aleksa Camur vs. William KnightFinally, here’s the full lineup for the prelims, which can also be viewed on ESPN+ and ESPN 2:Heavyweight: Juan Espino vs. Jeff HughesLight heavyweight: Khadis Ibragimov vs. Danilo MarquesHow much does the event cost?$64.99If you are subscribing to ESPN+ for the first time for this fight, you can get a bundle that includes 1 year of ESPN+ and this pay-per-view event for $84.