By John Christopher Aquino
UFC 263 saw two championship bouts as Israel Adesanya defended his middleweight championship after dominating Marvin Vettori via unanimous decision, and Brandon Moreno submitting Deiveson Figueiredo for the flyweight championship in Glendale, Arizona.
The co-main event was a championship rematch between Moreno and Figueiredo as their last bout ended in a draw. After dominating the previous rounds, Moreno closed the match with a third-round rear naked choke to become Mexico’s first UFC champion.
The main event was a rematch between Adesanya and Vettori, who both stepped into the octagon with bad blood.
The continuous trash talk before the bout came to a close once the cage door shut, with Adesanya defending the middleweight championship via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45).
The champion then called out no.1-ranked UFC middleweight in Robert Whittaker for a rematch.
The event also featured the return of UFC icon Nate Diaz, who fell to Leon Edwards’ striking prowess.
