MMA: Three Kiwis to join Israel Adesanya in UFC 253 card

Israel Adesanya will be joined by three of his fellow Kiwi teammates at UFC 253 in September 27.

The UFC middleweight champion Adesanya will defend his title against unbeaten Brazilian Paulo Costa in the main event.

Meanwhile, three of Adesanya's Auckland City Kickboxing teammates Kai Kara-France, Brad Riddell and Shane Young have also been announced for the card.

Auckland's elite will be fighting alongside Australian welterweight, Jake Matthews on the September event, with Kara-France joining Adesanya on the main card.

For the first time in UFC history, two undefeated fighters will battle for the middleweight championship when 19-0 striking sensation Adesanya defends against 13-0 powerhouse Costa.

Adesanya looks to continue his meteoric rise to superstardom, while Costa aims to derail the hype train and secure his first UFC championship.

The stage is set for the biggest middleweight bout of the year, where only one man can remain unbeaten.

Additional bouts added to the highly anticipated match up between Adesanya and Costa are as follows:

Kai "Don't Blink" Kara-France (21-8-0, fighting out of Auckland, New Zealand) will face no.10 franked flyweight, Brandon "Raw Dawg" Royval (11-4-0, fighting out of Littleton, Colorado)

Brad "Quake" Riddell (8-1-0, fighting out of Auckland, New Zealand) takes on Alex "Leko" Da Silva (21-2-0, fighting out of Santa Catarina, Brazil)

Shane Young (13-4-0, fighting out of Auckland, New Zealand) will make his return to the Octagon against Nate "The Train" Landwehr (14-3-0, fighting out of Clarksville, Tennessee)

Melbourne's Jake "The Celtic Kid" Matthews (16-4-0, fighting out of Melbourne, Australia) will join the boys and take on Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez (30-12-0, fighting out of Albuquerque, New Mexico)