UFC 263 will feature two championship fights, both of which are rematches.
Middleweight king Israel Adesanya (20-1) will look to remain undefeated at 185 pounds when he defends his belt against Italy's Marvin Vettori (17-3-1) on Saturday night at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona. Adesanya defeated Vettori via split decision in April 2018 in the same arena.
And men's flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo (20-1-1) will meet Brandon Moreno (18-5-2) in a rematch of their classic majority draw last December.
Who has the edge in these title fights? ESPN asked several coaches and fighters for their breakdowns and predictions.
Editor's note: Content has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Middleweight championship:
Israel Adesanya vs. Marvin Vettori
Jim West, MMA Gold coach
I've always thought Israel doesn't do well fighting off his back. I don't think you can use the excuse that, in his last fight, Jan Blachowicz was the bigger guy. I've been doing jiu-jitsu for a really long time. If you're proficient on the mat and understand all the sequences of working your way up to standing, the weight doesn't make that much of a difference. Israel didn't do anything correct off his back.
With that said, will Vettori be able to put the champ on his back? I think he has the ability to do it. It will be a little harder in the large cage than it would have been in the smaller one at the Apex in Las Vegas. That advantage helped Blachowicz in his fight against Israel, because if you take one or two steps forward in that cage in the Apex, you're already against the cage. But I do think Marvin can put Israel in some bad spots, and if he can make him carry his weight like Blachowicz did, and not let Israel play the counterstriking game, Vettori has a good chance.
You know what Vettori is going to do. I don't think it's any secret that he's going to try and close space and wrestle him to death. If he does, Israel could be in for a different truth. We could see something drastic. I'm going to go way out on a limb and say Vettori is going to grind him out.
Alan Jouban, retired UFC welterweight
The first thing that comes to mind is that this fight kind of reminds me of the Conor McGregor-Dustin Poirier rematch. In both cases, the fighters met very early in their UFC careers. In Conor's case, he was very confident going into the rematch. Conor had evolved drastically, finished big-name people within a couple minutes and become this megastar. The same thing has happened to Izzy. He and Marvin have both evolved since they first fought, but Izzy now has the same kind of stardom as McGregor. He's been able to finish these huge fights and become such a star. And then, as you saw, it didn't go Conor's way in the rematch with Poirier. In that fight, it was the honest fighter who came away with it, the guy who was more fundamentally and strategically sound.
I feel like that's what Marvin has going for him in this fight. He doesn't have the flash and the pizzazz, and he isn't as polished of a striker as Izzy is. But he's so fundamentally sound in every area -- with his grappling, his hands and almost a stubbornness to come forward all the time. He's kind of a stubborn fighter who still listens to the coach's game plan. He's also durable.
Marvin has to get those takedowns in this fight to offset Izzy though. I don't see a finish happening. I see this as a five-round affair. If Marvin makes this a boring fight -- uses takedowns, follows the same kind of game plan as Blachowicz and looks for control over damage -- I could see that being the route to victory. With all that said, I feel like I have to go with Izzy because he always has something in his back pocket. Izzy by decision.
Derek Brunson, UFC middleweight
It's a tricky fight in terms of, can Vettori wear on Izzy and get him tired with the pressure and wrestling -- and do it for five rounds? I think Izzy is going to be a better version of himself from the first fight. He'll focus on keeping the center of the cage and being efficient with his strikes.
Vettori will try to get him against the cage, get a takedown, put him on his back. Izzy doesn't have a wide variety of things off his back; he mainly has effort. He's the guy who's going to fight a takedown real hard, but you know if you put him on his back, he's not a guy throwing up any submissions. If Vettori can implement what he wants to do, then he'll be successful. But in my opinion, Izzy gets it done with a decision.
Tyson Chartier, New England Cartel coach
I'm going against the popular opinion and choosing Marvin by decision. It doesn't matter who Marvin has been fighting over the last three years; he's always been saying, "I want the rematch with Israel." It's a fight that he's confident in. He's not scared of Israel. He thinks he won the first one. And I think that's half the battle against someone like Israel. People go in there and respect him too much.
Watching the Blachowicz fight, obviously Jan is a lot bigger than Vettori, but if he can get Adesanya to the ground early, I think he'll be able to tire him out. And if you look at the exchanges on the feet from that first fight between Adesanya and Vettori, I really think whoever is able to throw first is going to have success. Marvin knows that if he marches forward and throws first, he'll have a good chance to have a lot more success. I don't know how that last fight with Blachowicz will affect Israel, being taken down like he did in the fourth and fifth rounds, and also knowing Marvin was able to take him down in their first match. If that makes him gun shy, that alone could be enough to let Marvin win on the feet in the first round.
I think Marvin can win a decision. Maybe he'll lose a round or two, but if he fights smart, he can win a decision.
Men's flyweight championship:
Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno
Jim West, MMA Gold coach
It was so even last time that it's hard to pick. They definitely know each other's tendencies now, so the question is: Who will be able to exploit those best?
I still think Figueiredo has the power advantage, and if he can get Moreno into a brawl, I like his power. I also think he's the better grappler. I think Figueiredo is going to be able to impose his will much better this time around. I think he will have adjusted better to the tendencies of Moreno. He'll make it more of a close quarters-type fight -- "I'm going to make you fight my power." Figueiredo will bring Moreno into that phone booth, and he wins that kind of fight all day.
Derek Brunson, UFC middleweight
That was a crazy fight, the first one. Nobody expected for it to be a fight. I think everybody expected Figueiredo to come out and roll him, and then it turned into a crazy, epic battle. I'm really high on Figueiredo. I think he's really tough, very good everywhere, tricky. I think Figueiredo will go out and get it done by stoppage.
Tyson Chartier, New England Cartel coach
I'm going with Figueiredo. Last time, I don't think he respected Moreno. It was a quick turnaround from his previous fight. I think he went in there thinking he was just going to put him away early. And when he didn't, he kind of faded and was like, "Oh, s---." But Figueiredo would have won that last fight were it not for the point deduction for a foul. I think he fights a little bit smarter this time and will have his way with Moreno.
Alan Jouban, retired UFC welterweight
I have so much respect for Moreno after that first fight. I don't think any of us really, truly knew he possessed that type of warrior instinct. And not only is he tough as nails, but he could hang with Figueiredo. Nobody thought he could. I certainly didn't. The way Figueiredo was mopping the floor with people -- I knew Moreno was good, but I thought Figueiredo would finish him. Moreno showed that if you don't take him out, he'll hang in there. Look at the striking Moreno showed. It was impressive.
But Figueiredo's manager later said his fighter had stomach issues going into that fight and went to the hospital the night before. He said Deiveson had food poisoning and that he didn't sleep, barely making it to the fight. And he still competed the way he did under that adversity. That right there is what separates guys, that champion mentality. It's like the Jon Jones that went into the fifth round against Alexander Gustafsson in their epic fight back in 2013. Who's going to win that fifth round? Those types of champions have an advantage you can't teach, and Figueiredo's got that. He's got heart and perseverance, too. Moreno surprised him, Figueiredo had those stomach issues, no problem. Still went five rounds. I've got to go with the champ in this one.