UFC: Marvin Vettori doesn’t think Israel Adesanya has proved much

June 13, 2020; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Marvin Vettori of Italy celebrates after his submission victory over Karl Roberson in their middleweight fight during UFC Fight Night at the UFC APEX. Mandatory Credit: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via USA TODAY Sports

UFC Vegas 17 tomorrow night is being headlined by a great middleweight contest between Jack Hermansson (21-5) and Marvin Vettori (15-4-1). The Italian Dream has won three consecutive fights leading into the main event tomorrow.

The last man to have defeated Marvin Vettori was current UFC middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya. The two men fought back in April of 2018 and Adesanya got the victory by split decision. Arguably the closest fight of Adesanya’s career.

For the last couple of years, Vettori has been asking for a rematch with Adesanya. Since that fight, Adesanya has become a superstar and captured the UFC‘s middleweight crown. Vettori has done some solid work, however, he’s still not close to another shot at the title.

Tomorrow night can of course change that. Yesterday was the UFC‘s virtual media day and the media members asked Vettori about the current champ. They asked him about his pending move to light heavyweight.

Vettori told the media, “He just thinks he can do whatever he wants. Reality, to me, he still didn’t prove much. His last fight was good, but it was more Costa beating himself. Before that, in my eyes, was one of the worst title fights ever.”

UFC’s Unproven Champ?

Let me start out by saying that I firmly disagree with Marvin Vettori. Yes, Israel Adesanya has proved a lot in the UFC‘s middleweight division. I will agree with Vettori saying the Romero fights was one of the worst title fights I’ve ever seen.

Vettori is known for being extremely outspoken and he’s not a fan of Adesanya. He believes that he won their first fight. While Vettori did do well, it’s worth noting that the vast majority of people believe that Adesanya won that fight.

Nevertheless, Vettori was more competitive with the UFC champ than anyone else outside of Kelvin Gastelum. If Vettori picks up the win tomorrow night, he might just be one fight away from a potential shot at the title.

Adesanya has made it clear that he wants to return to the UFC‘s middleweight division eventually. If Vettori picks up a couple of additional wins, I would love to see the two of them rematch to finally settle the score.