UFC 253: Adesanya vs. Costa Betting Preview

The UFC will leave Las Vegas and return to Fight Island for UFC 253 this weekend. Israel Adesanya will defend his middleweight title against Paulo Costa as the headline fight, but the card is stacked. Dominick Reyes and Jan Blachowicz will face off for the vacant light heavyweight belt, and Kai-Kara France will meet Brandon Royval in a battle of flyweight contenders.

The preliminary card for UFC 253: Adesanya vs. Costa will be shown on ESPN2 and ESPN Plus, starting at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, September 26. The main event is only available on PPV, and it is slated to kick off at 10 p.m. ET.

UFC 253: Adesanya vs. Costa Betting Odds

Israel Adesanya -176

Paulo Costa +151

This will be the second title defense for the unbeaten Adesanya. He has been incredibly impressive over his MMA career with a 19-0 record and 14 KOs, and he has earned wither Fight of the Night or Performance of the Night bonuses in six of his eight UFC contests. Adesanya knocked out Robert Whittaker in the second round to claim the UFC middleweight belt back in October of last year, and he successfully defended the title against Yoel Romero in the last promotion with fans at UFC 248.

Costa is unbeaten during his career as well. He is 13-0 with 11 KOs, so this figures to be a battle between two fighters that are going to spend most of the time standing and trading. His most recent victory was against Romero too, but he hasn’t entered the Octagon since last August due to injury.

Adesanya is a moderate favorite in the eyes of the oddsmakers. He is the current champion and hasn’t had a long layoff, and he is more likely to win a lengthy bout since Costa constantly pushes for early knockouts.

Dominick Reyes -266

Jan Blachowicz +226

Jon Jones vacated the light heavyweight belt last month, allowing Reyes and Blachowicz the opportunity to claim a UFC title for the first time. Reyes came close to defeating Reyes at UFC 247 in February. Although he lost a unanimous decision, some observers thought that he had done enough to win the bout with Dana White himself saying he thought Reyes won three of the five rounds. It was the first defeat of Reyes’ career, and that’s part of the reason why he is a sizable favorite against Blachowicz in the co-main event.

Blachowicz hasn’t defeated a ranked UFC light heavyweight in over two years, and he suffered a third-round TKO at the hands of Thiago Santos last February. He earned Performance of the Night bonuses for quick knockouts of Corey Anderson and Luke Rockhold, but he was forced to settle for a split decision victory against Jacare Souza in November.

We saw Reyes run out of gas in the fourth and fifth rounds against Jones, but he has more stamina than Blachowicz, and he will be more than happy to keep the fight vertical. That gives the favorite a big edge, and he could close north of -300.

Kai Kara-France -226

Brandon Royval +191

This will be just the second UFC fight for Brandon Royval. He has been impressive in his last three fights, securing quick submission victories each time, and that has led to the newcomer being ranked No. 10 in the flyweight division.

Kara-France is the more experienced fighter with 29 professional fights under his belt at the age of 27, and he has plenty of stamina with all five of his UFC bouts going the distance. His only loss has been to Brandon Moreno, but this may be too big of a price for the No. 7 ranked flyweight.

Hakeem Dawodu -105

Zubaira Tukhugov -115

Since losing his UFC debut, Dawodu has won his last four fights. He needed some help from the judges with split decision victories in two of those four bouts though, and that’s why this fight is essentially a pick ‘em. This will be Tukhugov’s third fight since a long layoff, but he flashed with a first-round TKO of Kevin Aguilar back in February.

Ketlen Vieira -175

Sijara Eubanks +150

Eubanks took this fight on short notice. Vieira was initially supposed to fight Marion Reneau, but Reneau pulled out of the bout last week due to injury. This will be Eubanks’ third fight in four months, and she was last in the Octagon just two weeks ago, so it’s clear she is trying to make a name for herself.

Vieira suffered the first loss of her career at UFC 245 in December. She had won the first four fights of her UFC career prior to that defeat, and she stands a very good chance of chalking up another win. 

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