UFC is back in action tonight as the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona, will host UFC 263. The event will feature two championship matches on the main card, and this will be the second time UFC has held an event in Glendale, with the first being UFC on Fox: Poirier vs. Gaethje in 2018. UFC 263 will air on ESPN+ pay-per-view for $69.99 at 10 p.m. ET.
The main event of UFC 263 is Israel Adesanya vs. Marvin Vettori for the Middleweight Championship. This match-up will be the second time the two have battled in the octagon, with the first being in 2018. Adesanya won the first bout via split decision and went on to win the Middleweight Championship nearly a year later. Vettori hasn’t lost a match since, winning his last five bouts. However, Adesanya is not impressed with Vettori’s win streak.
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“Like I said, look at the list of who he’s fought. The only person I know in that list is Jack Hermansson,” Adesanya said during the UFC 263 press conference per MMA Junkie. “He only got here because he fought a bum at No. 10, he was No. and got to No. 3.” Vettori fired back at Adesanya, telling him he’s earned the right to compete for the title.
“Listen, I showed up every single f—ing time, and people can’t make it to the fight with me,” Vettori said. “That’s not my fault, man,. Whenever I showed up, I beat my opponents. I proved you wrong so many times. You tried to ignore me, b—. You tried to ignore me and here I am, b—. These are all the people that believe into your own bull— a— hype. They’re all going to get shut up.”
The Flyweight Championship is also on the line as Deiveson Figueiredo takes on Brandon Moreno. This is another rematch as Figueiredo and Moreno battled at UFC 256 and ended in a draw. Figueiredo won the vacant Flyweight title in February 2020 after beating Joseph Benavidez.
UFC 263 also has two welterweight bouts – Leon Edwards vs. Nate Diaz and Demian Maia vs. Belal Muhammad. The last match on the main card is a light heavyweight battle between Paul Craig and Jamahal Hill. The preliminary card has four matches and can be seen on ESPN and ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET. The early preliminary card will have five matches that will air on ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass at 6 p.m. ET.
