UFC 253


UFC 253: Adesanya vs. Costa is an upcoming mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that will take place on September 19, 2020 at a TBD location.

Background

A UFC Middleweight Championship bout between current champion Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa is expected to serve as the event headliner. The bout was originally targeted for UFC 248, but Costa was unable to compete on that card due to injury. In turn, Adesanya faced former title challenger Yoel Romero.
While not officially announced by the organization, a UFC Lightweight Championship unification bout between current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and interim champion Justin Gaethje was briefly linked to the event. However, the bout did not materialize and their manager, Ali Abdelaziz, indicated that his clients should still face each other before the end of the year. The pairing has now been scheduled for UFC 254.
A heavyweight bout between Ciryl Gane and Shamil Abdurakhimov is expected to take place at this event. The pairing was originally scheduled for UFC 249. However, Gane was forced to pull out of the event after he was struck by a pneumothorax in training. Subsequently, the pairing was rescheduled for UFC 251 and cancelled a second time as Abdurakhimov was removed from the bout for undisclosed reasons.

Fight card

Announced bouts