Israel Adesanya will defend his UFC middleweight title against unbeaten Brazilian star Paulo Costa.
The fight which was announced on UFC’s verified Twitter handle is scheduled for September 26 but location of the fight was not announced.
Brazilian outlet Combate had initially reported the news of the matchup in July.
Adesanya captured the full middleweight belt in 2019 with an impressive win over Robert Whittaker.
He then beat Yoel Romero via unanimous decision at UFC 248 in March.
There has been some past chatter about a superfight against light heavyweight champ Jon Jones, but Jones himself said that would have to wait until 2021.
Costa, who has won all his 13 fights, was originally on track to face Adesanya after beating Romero at UFC 241, but had to wait after undergoing biceps surgery.
Adesanya called out Costa after his own win over Romero, saying “I see you soon, boy.”
Costa was in attendance for that match, and was seen jumping over the fence toward the Octagon after the decision was announced.
Now, six months and a pandemic later, Costa will get another shot at one of UFC’s biggest rising stars.
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