Nigerian-New Zealand UFC middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya Adesanya, retained his title with a second-round knockout of Brazilian Paulo Costa.
The win is his 20th career MMA victory.
There was less action in the first round as both MMA fighters traded few kicks and punches with Costa pressing the champion but throwing few shots.
Adesanya came out with more purpose in the second round, outboxing his opponent and landing deadly shots.
In his previous fight, Adesanya beat Yoel Romero by decision at the UFC 248 pay-per-view event from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Adesanya became the new UFC middleweight champion when he finished Robert Whittaker at UFC 243 last October by TKO. Before that, he picked up a decision win over Kelvin Gastelum in the co-headliner of the UFC 236 pay-per-view event. Heading into this fight, he fought six times in less than a year-and-a-half total in the UFC and won all six bouts.
Costa was coming off a big win over Yoel Romero at the UFC 241 pay-per-view event. He previously beat Uriah Hall on the preliminary portion of the UFC 226 pay-per-view event in Las Vegas, Nevada. He entered this fight on a 12-fight winning streak.
WHAT A STATEMENT 🙌— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) September 27, 2020
Israel Adesanya ends the rivalry with Paulo Costa inside two rounds with a dominant display!
It was THAT easy 😳 #UFC253 pic.twitter.com/jxdchos1zf
"I told Dana, 30% is not enough. F--k that. Some of these guys are gangsters, they're making money outside of the UFC. Make it 90% [purse reduction] and they will spend every [waking moment] to make weight." - Israel Adesanya pic.twitter.com/VaWIqZrBrf— GIFSkull IV - Banned Soon Due to False DMCA Spam (@GifSkullIV) September 27, 2020
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