New Zealand’s Nigerian-born “Last Stylebender”, Israel Adesanya, is set to take on Italy’s Marvin Vettori in the main event of UFC 263 at the Gila Arena in Arizona in the United States of America.
Both men face off for the second time in their careers, with Adesanya having come out on top in their previous meeting at the UFC on FOX 29 in April 2018 at the same venue by a split decision.
Adesanya comes into UFC 263 following an unsuccessful attempt at becoming a two-category champion as he was defeated by Jan Blachowicz at light heavyweight in five rounds.
He has never lost a single fight at middleweight and is a firm favourite for victory in the bout against the Italian second contender.
Adesanya was originally meant to fight the number one contender for the middleweight title Robert Whittaker after the Australian performed excellently at the UFC Vegas 24, but when the time came to arrange the fight, Whittaker said he would only be ready by September, and with Adesanya eyeing a return to action in June, Vettori, was the one who stated that he would be ready to take on Adesanya in June.
Adesanya has defeated both men in the past already, defeating Whittaker in October 2019 at UFC 243 via a third round technical knockout, and Vettori in April 2018 by a split decision in what was the closest fight of Adesanya’s middleweight UFC career so far.
Adesanya has continued to impress in his time at middleweight, having lost none of his nine professional bouts at the 185 pounds category.
Adesanya and his opponent Vettori had a heated exchange in the prefight press conference with both men seemingly ready to do battle on the spot if not for the intervention of UFC president Dana White and security personnel who carried Vettori out of the venue.
Adesanya is ranked as the best pound for pound fighter in the middleweight division, with Vettori some way down at sixth. Adesanya is aiming to defend his middleweight title for a third time, having already done so twice since he first won the title in 2019; it will not be a walk in the park as Vettori is in the form of his life.
Vettori has won five consecutive fights, last losing to Adesanya. His last fight was an April victory over Kevin Holland at the UFC Fight Night.
Vettori believes he defeated Adesanya in their 2018 fight, hence his clamour for a rematch ever since. Adesanya, on the other hand was quite relaxed and claimed that he lives in the head of the Italian fighter, seeing that all he ever spoke about was his defeat to Adesanya and not his own wins.
Also at UFC 263, flyweight champion Deiveson Figueierdo will do battle with Brandon Moreno in a winner takes all bout.
Both men held each other to a draw in their last meeting in December 2020 at UFC 256. These matches at UFC 263 are tantalising for punters who are interested in betting on MMA; with titles on the line, the stakes are always higher.
