The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to Fight Island in Abu Dhabi with UFC 253 set to take place on September 26.
The UFC will remain in Abu Dhabi to host 5 consecutive fight cards as Fight Island continues to be the hub that the UFC uses to host fights outside the United States.
UFC253 is expected to be one of the biggest fight cards that the promotion will host in 2020.
The Main Event will be headlined by UFC middleweight champion Israel ‘The Last Stylebender’ Adesanya who will defend his belt against the number one contender in Paulo ‘The Eraser’ Costa.
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We take a look at the most popular fights on the card and what the betting odds are like.
* Odds have been provided by 888sport and are accurate as of 24/09/2020
The two fighters have had a heated rivalry in the past and this fight is expected to deliver fireworks as both fighters like to stand on the feat and trade. Adesanya goes in as the betting favorite with odds of 1.55 while Costa is the underdog with odds of 2.50.
This fight is generating a lot of hype because Adesanya has turned out to be a rather flashy champion with unique walkouts, dance moves and fans all around the world. Adesanya was born in Nigeria, lives in New Zealand and will fight in the UAE where he has built a strong fan base.
There will be no crowds in the arena, so it will be interesting to see if Adesanya continues to use a flashy walkout entrance that usually has dancers accompany him to the Octagon. Costa has promised to knock-out Adesanya in the first round.
The co-main event will see Dominic Reyes (1.35) and Jan Blachowicz (3.30) battle it out to see which one of them will be crowned the UFC lightheavyweight champion. They are fighting for the vacant belt after Jon Jones decided to relinquish the belt and make a move to heavyweight.
This will be a 5 round fight and though the bookies have Blachowicz as a big underdog, don’t write him off as he is as tough as nails and is eager to showcase his Polish power.
Some of the other fights include Kai Kara-France (1.42) take on Brandon Royval (2.88); Ketlen Vieira (1.57) take on Sijara Eubanks (2.40) and Hakeem Dawodu (2.00) take on Zubaira Tukhugov (1.83).
Don’t forget that apart from betting on an outright result, there are also a number of MMA side bets including round betting, mode of victory and fight to go the distance.