Kiwi athletes Shane Young, Israel Adesanya and Kai Kara-France will all fight at UFC 253. Photo / Michael Craig
Kiwi athletes Shane Young, Israel Adesanya and Kai Kara-France will all fight at UFC 253. Photo / Michael Craig
Israel Adesanya's bout against Paulo Costa has been a long time coming.
Adesanya called the Brazilian striker out in 2018 but didn't get the fight then. Instead, the two unbeaten fighters will now meet with the UFC middleweight title on the line in the headline bout at UFC 253 onFight Island in Abu Dhabi today.
With the UFC giving the pair time to build their profiles over the past 18 months, it's now a fight that some have mentioned in the conversation of the biggest in the middleweight division of all time, while UFC president Dana White has repeatedly referred to it as his pick for Fight of the Year.
The Herald on Sunday back page ahead of the Adesanya v Costa fight.
If you ask Adesanya, though, it's not quite the dream contest.
"I don't think it's going to be the greatest middleweight fight in history," Adesanya admitted.
"I know it's a big fight, I know I'm going to do well ... but I feel like it's just another fight; another day in the office."
Adesanya is one of four athletes from Auckland's City Kickboxing gym featuring at UFC 253, with Kai Kara-France also on the main card, and Brad Riddell and Shane Young appearing earlier in proceedings.
It's just the second time four New Zealand-based fighters will fight on the same UFC card, after Adesanya, Riddell, Dan Hooker and Luke Jumeau were all a part of UFC 243 last October.
Kiwi athletes Shane Young, Israel Adesanya and Kai Kara-France will all fight at UFC 253. Photo / Michael Craig
But the spotlight is different for this card, given the push the bout between Adesanya and Costa has received from the UFC. For Kara-France, fighting under the bright lights won't be a problem.
"It's going to be another special night, another bucket list [item] ticked off, but at the end of the day, it's just another occasion," Kara-France said.
"It's all business for me, I've been in these high pressure fights before; this will be my debut on a main card for a pay-per-view and I want to capitalise on that spotlight."
There is plenty on the line for the Kiwi quartet, with the eyes of the nation on them.
Adesanya fights in just the second men's title bout in UFC history to feature two unbeaten athletes, against Costa who is known for his knockout finishes.
Israel Adesanya will put his middleweight title on the line against Paulo Costa at UFC 253. Photo / Getty Images
For Kara-France, ranked No7 in the flyweight division, he will be looking to further cement himself as a genuine title challenger against No9-ranked Brandon Royval.
The American looks outmatched in striking against Kara-France but has a strong grappling and submission skill set.
Riddell and Young are early in their UFC careers but have made impressive starts and wins over Alex da Silva and Ludovit Klein will give them a further push towards the rankings.
Brad Riddell has had two impressive wins to begin his UFC career. Photo / Getty Images
All four Kiwi fighters and their opponents made weight for their respective bouts, aside from Klein, who missed the 65.7kg featherweight limit by 2.2kg and will forfeit 20 per cent of his purse to Young.
After spending time living in the gym during their preparations due to Auckland's lockdown restrictions, the quartet took their training to another level as they basically ate, trained, slept and constantly repeated those actions for that time in confinement.
As a result, Young said the team was feeling dangerous.
"This is the fittest, fastest and strongest all four of us have been," he said. "But this is just the beginning."
