UFC 263 BIG FIGHT PREVIEW: Israel Adesanya vs Marvin Vettori

You can make a case for this being the perfect time to fight Israel Adesanya, if such a thing is possible. The middleweight champion fell short in his ambitious step up to light-heavyweight, losing against Jan Blachowicz and the golden unbeaten glow he carried has dulled slightly. Adesanya, for all his wizardry on the feet, was unable to land a killer blow or even do much effective damage, and found himself manhandled on the ground in the later rounds.  Israel Adesanya returns to middleweight to defend his title against Marvin Vettori (right) Vettori has won his last five, including a dominant victory over Kevin Holland last time out Adesanya was well beaten in his step up to light-heavyweight against Jan Blachowicz So back to the drawing board and back down to middleweight for ‘The Last Stylebender’. One of the reasons Adesanya made the leap up a division for a shot at becoming a ‘champ champ’ was that the challenges at 185-pounds looked thin on the ground. He had talked up a fight with Britain’s Darren Till but the Liverpool fan favourite has been cruelly struck down by injury and will have to wait a while longer for his shot. He’d beaten Robert Whittaker, dispatched Paulo Costa and daftar ibcbet sent Yoel Romero off to Bellator. So Marvin Vettori will have his chance.The Italian is the obvious top contender having won five on the spin and also has history with Adesanya, insisting he won their first fight (the judges ruled in favour of his opponent by split decision). Vettori, 27, fared far better than many more fancied rivals against Adesanya and firmly believes he won that first encounter.  RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next Dana White reveals plan for UFC to head to Africa for its… ‘What are we doing wrong!?’: UFC heavyweight star Francis… ‘Why take the risk of fighting Stipe Miocic when you can… UFC president Dana White reveals Kamaru Usman’s next title… Share this article Share <div class=”perform-player” data-tracking-id=”432bdd91ecc8aae4071ce50cb5.