UFC 253 Results: "Untouchable" Israel Adesanya destroys Paulo Costa, names next opponent; Jan Blachowicz crowned new king of light heavyweights and more
The much-awaited UFC 253 pay-per-view is finally in the history books and the card was just as amazing as we thought it would be. There were stunning knockouts, vicious submissions as well as back and forth dogfights in the riveting main card that was headlined by a middleweight title fight between Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa.
Given below are the results of all the fights that took place on the UFC 253 PPV.
UFC 253 Main Card
Israel Adesanya def. Paulo Costa via second-round TKO (3:59)
Jan Blachowicz def. Dominick Reyes via second-round TKO (4:36)
Brandon Royval def. Kai Kara-France via sub (guillotine) (R2, 0:48)
Ketlen Vieira def. Sijara Eubanks via unanimous decision
Hakeem Dawodu def. Zubaira Tukhugov via split decision
UFC 253 Preliminary Card
Brad Riddell def. Alex da Silva Coelho via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
Jake Matthews def. Diego Sanchez via unanimous decision (30-26 x3)
Ludovit Klein def. Shane Young via first-round KO (1:16)
William Knight def. Aleksa Camur via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27 x2)
Juan Espino def. Jeff Hughes via submission (scarf hold) (R1, 3:48)
Danilo Marques def. Khadis Ibragimov via UD (29-28 x2, 30-27)
Without further ado, let's glance through the fights on the main card of UFC 253 which went down tonight at the Yas Islands in Abu Dhabi.
Hakeem Dawodu def. Zubaira Tukhugov
Hakeem Dawodu is a beast at 145 lbs and the division must now take notice of the Canadian powerhouse. Dawodu picked up his fifth win on the trot in his main card opening bout against Khabib Nurmagomedov's teammate, Zubaira Tukhugov at UFC 253.
Dawodu displayed a brilliant all-round game in the three-round encounter, bringing variety to his strikes by mixing up leg kicks and stinging one-two's effortlessly as well as showed good conditioning and solid takedown defense to edge Zubaira Tukhugov by split decision. The judges scored the fight 30-27 and 29-28 for Dawodu while the third official gave it to Tukhogov with a 29-28 score.
Ketlen Vieira def. Sijara Eubanks
After suffering the first loss of her pro-fighting career last time out, Ketlen Vieira returned to winning ways for the first time after two long years with an impressive performance against Sijara Eubanks at UFC 253.
Vieira has clearly worked a lot on her striking game and that showed during the fight. To add to the new and improved striking arsenal, Vieira also displayed a ground game that could put many a veteran to shame. She managed to get the better of Eubanks in the fight, earning a unanimous decision at the end of the three scheduled rounds. All judges scored the fight 29-28 in favor of Vieira.
Brandon Royval def. Kai Kara-France
Brandon Royval set the octagon on fire during his flyweight scrap with Kai kara-France at UFC 253. It is now safe to say that Royval has emerged as a new contender for the 125 lb gold.
Following an effort that fetched him a Performance of the Night bonus in his UFC debut, Brandon Royval gave an even better account of himself in only his second fight inside the Octagon by submitting Kai Kara-France in just 48 seconds of the 2nd round in a back and forth battle on the UFC 253 main card.
Jan Blachowicz def. Dominick Reyes
No matter who won the co-main event between Jan Blachowicz and Dominick Reyes tonight, one thing was certain - it would mark the beginning of a new era in the UFC light heavyweight division. An era without the division's most dominant champion ever - Jon Jones.
In a brutal display of "Polish Power", it was Jan Blachowicz who emerged victorious with a stunning second-round knockout win against Dominick Reyes. Blachowicz is now the undisputed king of the light heavyweight division and deservingly so.
In the fight, Blachowicz broke Reyes’ with a straight right and then finished the fight with a left hook that connected flush on the temple, that sent Reyes crashing down on the mat. Blachowicz followed it up with some nasty ground and pound before the referee stepped in to save Reyes from more punishment. Following his win, Blachowicz called out former champion Jon Jones.
Israel Adesanya def. Paulo Costa
The debate is settled. Israel Adesanya is by far the benchmark for fighters in the UFC middleweight division and as of now, no one is even close to dethroning the reigning champion of the 185 lbers.
In what was being tipped as the toughest challenge of his career, Israel Adesanya made quick work of Brazilian knockout artist Paulo Costa, dispatching the latter with ease on his way to another successful title defense in the main event of UFC 253.
Paulo Costa, whose knockout power made many believe that he would be the one to put Adesanya to sleep, couldn't even touch the champ as "The Last Stylebender" used his reach advantage to stay on the outside and chopped away at Costa's lead leg throughout the first round. In the second round, Adesanya let the hands go free, lighting Costa up like a Christmas tree. A visibly stunned Costa threw a desperate looking straight left that Adesanya ducked under and connected with a counter of his own that put the former down and out at 3:59 in round 2. Adesanya named Jared Cannonier as his next opponent during his post-fight interview with Jon Anik.