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Reigning UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and recently crowned light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz were the biggest winners at UFC 253 and their stellar performances were aptly rewarded by the promotion.
The two title fight winners of the night - Adesanya and Blachowicz were both awarded handsome $50,000 Performance of the Night bonuses following the blockbuster pay-per-view, and the Fight of the Night bonus went to flyweights Brandon Royval and Kai Kara-France.
Jan Blachowicz and Israel Adesanya turned on the heat at UFC 253
Israel Adesanya put on a clinical performance in the main event of UFC 253, successfully defending his middleweight title against Brazilian knockout artist Paulo Costa and making it look very easy. Adesanya methodically dismantled Costa in the fight, chomping away at the latter's lead leg during the first round and then lit him up with a barrage of kicks and hard straights in the second before finally finishing him with a perfectly timed counter-punch coupled with some ground and pound, earning himself a TKO victory.
In the co-main event, Blachowicz was just as dominant as Israel Adesanya. The Polish powerhouse landed body kicks with razor sharp precision that left his opponent Dominick Reyes' ribs badly bruised at the end of the first round. In the second round, Blachowicz unleashed the devastating power in his hands and cracked Reyes hard right between the eyes, causing the latter to lose go crashing down on to the mat. Blachowicz then started piling on the misery with some hammer fists before the referee decided to step in. With the victory, Blachowicz became the only man to hold the UFC light heavyweight title apart from Jon Jones or Daniel Cormier since March 2011.
