Tag Archives: UFC 253

Dominick Reyes to Fight for Jon Jones’ Recently Vacated UFC Light Heavyweight Title

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Dominick Reyes will be fighting for a title next month…

The 30-year-old Mexican American professional mixed martial artist will face off against Jan Blachowicz for the UFC light heavyweight title vacated by longtime champion Jon Jones.

Dominick Reyes

A bout between Reyes and Blachowicz had already been set for UFC 253 on September 26. But the UFC made it official: the two top contenders will be going for the vacant light heavyweight title.

Reyes (12-1), ranked No. 3 in the world by ESPN among light heavyweight fighters, is coming off a controversial, unanimous-decision loss to Jones at UFC 247 in February. It was a bout many thought the California native should’ve won on the scorecards.

Blachowicz (26-8) has won three straight, the most recent a first-round knockout of Corey Anderson in February. The 37-year-old is ranked No. 4 by ESPN at light heavyweight.

This will mark only the second time that the UFC light heavyweight title will not be in a card’s main event. The first was Daniel Cormier‘s title defense against Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 220 on Jan. 21, 2018.

UFC 253 will be headlined by a middleweight fight between champion Israel Adesanya and challenger Paulo Costa.

Jones had held the light heavyweight belt off and on since 2011 and never lost it in the cage. The champion expressed his intent to move up to heavyweight.

Paulo Costa to Take On Defending Champion Israel Adesanya in UFC Middleweight Title Fight

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Paulo Costa is getting his title chance…

Israel Adesanya will defend his middleweight title against the 29-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artiston September 19, according to ESPN.

Paulo Costa

This weekend, Costa tweeted: “The fight is on folks!” News of the fight was first reported by Combate.

The fight, which will take place at UFC 253, doesn’t have a location yet. It probably will take place in either Las Vegas or Abu Dhabi, but the promotion hasn’t finalized those plans just yet because of the coronavirus pandemic, sources said.

Originally, Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje was targeted for September 19. Though no official determination has been made regarding that fight, sources say the current plan is to headline the card with Adesanya vs. Costa and then do Nurmagomedov vs. Gaethje for the lightweight title later in the fall.

Adesanya (19-0) successfully defended the middleweight title for the first time in March when he defeated Yoel Romero via unanimous decision. That fight was supposed to be against his bitter rival, Costa, however, Costa was forced out of the fight after suffering a torn left biceps.

Costa (13-0), most recently defeated Romero via unanimous decision in August 2019.

The duo have been entangled in a war of words since before Adesanya won the middleweight title in October.

The fight will mark just the second time in UFC history that two undefeated males fight for an undisputed title. The first time was back in 2008 when champion Rashad Evans defended the light heavyweight title against Lyoto Machida at UFC 98.