In Pictures: Israel Adesanya destroys Paulo Costa to retain middleweight title in Abu Dhabi

(R-L) Israel Adesanya of Nigeria kicks Paulo Costa of Brazil in their middleweight championship bout during UFC 253 inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island. Reigning middleweight king Isreal Adesanya delivered a masterly performance to defend his unbeaten record and demolish Brazil’s Paulo Costa in the very second round of their championship bout at UFC 253 at Fight Island in Abu Dhabi on Sunday morning.

(L-R) Paulo Costa of Brazil in action with Israel Adesanya of Nigeria in their middleweight championship bout. Adesanya won his title last year by beating Robert Whittaker, but he was in need of a redemptive performance after defending his belt last March with a stupendously boring decision over Yoel Romero in Las Vegas.

(R-L) Ketlen Vieira of Brazil punches Sijara Eubanks in their women's bantamweight bout. After suffering the first loss of her career, Ketlen Vieira bounced back with a strong showing against Sijara Eubanks at UFC 253. Mixing together her ground game with a much improved striking arsenal, Vieira was able to get the better of Eubanks to earn a unanimous decision. The judges all gave Vieira the fight with 29-28 scores across the board.

(L-R) Jeff Hughes gets taken down by Juan Espino of Spain. After nearly a two-year layoff, Juan Espino made up for lost time with a quick submission on Fight Island. “El Guapo” took on Jeff Hughes during the UFC 253 preliminary card and was able to do whatever he wanted to his opponent en route to a first-round scarf-hold submission win in Abu Dhabi.

In the co-main event, Jan Błachowicz (27-8 MMA, 10-5 UFC) defeated Dominick Reyes (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) by TKO at four minutes in the second round of the UFC light-heavyweight championship bout for the vacant title after former two-time champion Jon Jones vacated the belt on August 17, to compete in the heavyweight division. After controlling most of the action in a slow first round, Blachowicz apparently broke Reyes' nose during the second round, and he abruptly ended it when he landed a high left hook to the side of Reyes' head.

(L-R) Zubaira Tukhugov of Russia punches Hakeem Dawodu of Canada in their featherweight bout during UFC 253 inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.

Ludovit Klein of Slovakia kicks Shane Young of New Zealand in their featherweight bout. Klein made a splash in his octagon debut, stopping Shane Young with a head kick and flurry of punches to earn a stoppage just 76 seconds into their UFC 253 preliminary-card bout. Klein, a national boxing champ in his home country, cracked Young with a jab in the early goings of the fight, then slapped Young with a head kick.

(L-R) Aleksa Camur punches William Knight in their light heavyweight bout during UFC 253 inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.

(L-R) Sijara Eubanks punches Ketlen Vieira of Brazil.

Brandon Royval kicks Kai Kara France of New Zealand in their flyweight bout during UFC 253 inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island.

(L-R) Khadis Ibragimov of Russia punches Danilo Marques of Brazil.

(L-R) Jake Matthews of Australia punches Diego Sanchez.