The first UFC pay-per-view event of June will take place in Glendale, Arizona in front of a full capacity crowd. This will be the UFC’s third event with a large crowd since the COVID-19 pandemic struck world sports in early 2020.
UFC 263 will be headlined by a middleweight championship fight between Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori in a rematch that takes place three years after their first meeting. The announcement was made during the broadcast of UFC Vegas 25 last Saturday night.
The pair previously fought at UFC on FOX: Poirier vs. Gaethje in April 2018 with Adesanya earning a split decision win over Vettori. Since that fight, both Adesanya and Vettori have gone on long win streaks in the middleweight division.
Adesanya has successfully defended the championship twice, defeating former title challengers Yoel Romero and Paulo Costa last year. He moved up in weight in an attempt to capture the light heavyweight title from current champion Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259 earlier this year, but lost by way of unanimous decision.
Vettori has won his last five fights with his most recent performances coming against ranked contenders in Jack Hermansson and Kevin Holland in back-to-back main event appearances.
The co-main event of UFC 263 is also a rematch. Flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo meets No. 1 contender Brandon Moreno again after fighting to a majority draw at UFC 256 in December.
UFC 263 takes place on June 12 at the Gila River Arena in Glendale. The Gila Arena can hold 18,000 fans. The UFC’s debut back in front of fans came in Jacksonville, FL for UFC 261 last month. On May 15 UFC 262 is scheduled to go down in front of fans at the Toyata Center in Houston, TX.
The lineup has not been made official yet, but this is how the card looks with its announced fights:
- Israel Adesanya vs. Marvin Vettori — Middleweight title fight
- Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno — Flyweight title fight
- Paul Craig vs. Jamahal Hill
- Demian Maia vs. Belal Muhammad
- Drew Dober vs. Brad Riddell
- Jake Collier vs. Carlos Felipe
- Luigi Vendramini vs. Fares Ziam
- Hakeem Dawodu vs. Movsar Evloev
- Sijara Eubanks vs. Karol Rosa
- Joanne Calderwood vs. Lauren Murphy
- Frank Camacho vs. Matt Frevola
- Chase Hooper vs. Steven Peterson