UFC 253 pay-per-view event went down tonight (September 26, 2020) from Yas Island, Abu Dhabi at the Flash Forum aka Fight Island and we have the results. The world’s leading mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion compiled an excellent card for fight fans to enjoy.
It was headlined by a meeting between Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa in a middleweight title bout.
The co-headliner saw a bout between Jan Blachowicz and Dominick Reyes. Kai Kara-France vs. Brandon Royval, Sijara Eubanks vs. Ketlen Vieira, and Hakeem Dawodu vs. Zubaira Tukhugov finished out the main card.
Israel Adesanya vs. Paulo Costa
Costa had cup marks on the back of his legs so Adesanya went right after it with leg kicks. There was some taunting in the first round while Costa continued to land a left head kick. By the start of the second round, Costa’s left leg, his lead leg, was quite red. Adesanya caught him with a nice combo before landing a counter hook and Costa dropped. Adesanya landed some more strikes on the ground for the win.
Jan Blachowicz vs. Dominick Reyes
It was a slow start to this one. Reyes had a big bruise on the right side of his torso thanks to the kicks laid out by Blachowicz. As the second round approached, Blachowicz was trying to counter strike with Reyes but did so in volume. If Reyes threw one punch then Blachowicz would throw two. Reyes started to throw more volume as the second round came to a close. With just seconds left in the round, Blachowicz started to land some big shots before dropping him with a bomb of a left hand then finished him off on the ground with strikes.
Kai Kara-France vs. Brandon Royval
What a wild start as Kara-France dropped him with a big right hand only for Royval to get up and land a spinning back fist. It appeared that Royval also caught him with an illegal knee on the ground but there was no stoppage. Instead, they grappled on the ground before getting back to their feet. Royval later caught him with a spinning back fist then a knee strike to the jaw. Kara-France fired back with his own strikes. Royval dropped him with a knee strike to the ribs and went for a guillotine choke, but Kara-France got out. Royval put together an amazing combo that seemed to last several seconds. The second round saw Royval get a guillotine choke and tapped France.
Sijara Eubanks vs. Ketlen Vieira
They clinched right away to open the first round. Vieira was walking her down while Eubands tried to close the distance and work for takedowns. Vieira had the range and was successful with her popping strikes. Vieira scored a late round takedown and got full guard. Vieira opened the second round with a takedown only to be stood up in the middle of the round. They traded to the finish. Eubanks came out aggressive as she was down on the scorecards and started to throw her hands. Eubanks got a late round takedown. Despite her best attempt to comeback, Eubanks fell short and Vieira was awarded the decision win.
Hakeem Dawodu vs. Zubaira Tukhugov
Round 1 was close yet not a ton of action. Instead, there were a lot of fakes and leg kicks. Tukhugov did tag him with a nice overhand right. Round 2 heated up as Tukhugov and Dawodu exchanged some hooks in the pocket. They started to let their hands go before Tukhugov scored a takedown and got in half guard. Hawodu was really focusing on leg kicks and they were started to pay off come the third round. Tukhugov was working hard with his movement before trying to get a takedown, which was stuffed a few times. They traded to the finish with the judges giving the win to Dawodu.
It was certain to have a great night of fights. Check out MMA News’ UFC 253 results below:
Quick UFC 253 Results
Main Card (PPV, 10 p.m. ET)
- Middleweight title bout: Israel Adesanya def. Paulo Costa by TKO (punches) at 3:59 of Round 2 to retain the UFC Middleweight Championship
- Light heavyweight title bout: Jan Blachowicz def. Dominick Reyes by TKO (punches) at 4:36 of Round 2 to win the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship
- Flyweight bout: Brandon Royval def. Kai Kara-France by submission (guillotine choke) at :48 of Round 2
- Women’s bantamweight bout: Ketlen Vieira def. Sijara Eubanks by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28 29-28)
- Featherweight bout: Hakeem Dawodu def. Zubaira Tukhugov by split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
Preliminary Card (ESPN2/ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)
- Lightweight bout: Brad Riddell def. Alex da Silva by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Welterweight bout: Jake Matthews def. Diego Sanchez by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
- Featherweight bout: Ludovit Klein def. Shane Young by knockout (head kick & punches) at 1:16 of Round 1
- Light heavyweight bout: William Knight def. Aleksa Camur by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Preliminary Card (ESPN2/ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET)
- Heavyweight bout: Juan Espino def. Jeff Hughes by submission (scarf hold) at 3:48 of Round 1
- Light heavyweight bout: Danilo Marques def. Khadis Ibragimov by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
