Kiwi UFC star Israel Adesanya has locked in a date for his UFC middleweight title defence against Brazil’s Paulo Costa.
Adesanya will face off against Costa on September 27 (NZ time) in the headline bout of UFC 253.
UFC have yet to confirm a location, but it is believed 'Fight Island' in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates’ capital, is the frontrunner for the event.
Adesanya won’t be the only Kiwi featuring in UFC 253 though with flyweight Kai Kara-France joining him as well in an undercard bout against American Brandon Royval.
Kara-France is fresh off victory over American Tyson Nam in his last fight in Auckland in February.
Both Adesanya and Costa enter the fight undefeated in their professional MMA careers, [19-0 and 13-0 respectively] and have already been trading blows verbally before today’s announcement, giving fans a heated rivalry to get excited about for September.
Adesanya had initially been line up to face Costa in his first defence of his undisputed middleweight crown before the Brazilian was ruled out due to a biceps injury.
As a result, Adesanya went on to meet Yoel Romero in March, winning via unanimous decision, in Las Vegas.
Costa's most recent outing was also against Romero, coming away with the same result in August last year.
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