UFC 263 announced for Arizona, two title fights to co-headline

The UFC will look to keep their pay-per-view hot streak going as they announced UFC 263, set for Saturday, June 15th in Glendale, Arizona.

The Gila River Arena show will feature two title fights as Israel Adesanya will look to defend his middleweight title against Marvin Vettori while flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo will once again battle Brandon Moreno.

The former is a rematch of an April 2018 fight Adesanya won by split decision in just his second Octagon encounter. He’ll be looking for the third defense of his middleweight title and is coming off his first professional MMA defeat at the hands of light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz in March. Vettori rides into the fight on a five-fight win streak with his last loss being the Adesanya fight.

The co-main event is a rematch of a 2020 fight of the year candidate that ended in a majority draw. Both Figueiredo and Moreno were signed for the fight in a record turnaround time as both picked up quick wins at November’s UFC 255 and were called into action several weeks later for December’s UFC 256. The fight was among the year’s best which raises the stakes for the rematch.

The rest of the main card will feature former middleweight title challenger Demian Maia vs. Belal Muhammad; Paul Craig vs. Jamahal Hill, and Drew Dober vs. Brad Riddell.

Tickets will go on sale in mid-May, but it’s unknown if the arena will be at full capacity at that point. As of now, they require masks to be worn by attendees, social distancing, and “capacity reduction” according to their website. UFC has been on a roll with selling out Jacksonville, Florida; Houston, Texas; and Las Vegas, Nevada, with the three PPVs they gave put on sale in recent months.