Marvin Vettori’s rivalry with Israel Adesanya isn’t cooling off anytime soon.
You would think that when you lose to an opponent twice, pretty decisively, the respect would be there. Not for Marvin Vettori, who thinks Adesanya cannot be the pound-for-pound best fighter because he ‘fights like a b*tch’.
History
Vettori and Adesanya initially met back at UFC on Fox: Poirier vs. Gaethje in 2018. It was Adesanya’s second fight with the promotion, and it was Vettori’s fifth. “Stylebender” would win the fight via split decision, something Vettori still thinks is wrong and that he was the victor.
Three years later, in the same Arizona arena, the middleweights would face off again, this time for the middleweight title. Again, Adesanya would win this time via unanimous decision.
He Fights Like A B*tch, Bro
Vettori spoke with ESNEWS, and of course, Adesanya came up. When asked who Vettori thought was pound-for-pound best, the 28-year old Italian fighter said Kamaru Usman but then went on to bash Adesanya.
“The way Adesanya fights, he fights like a b*tch, bro. I swear. He fought me like a b*tch. He fought Romero like a b*tch,” Vettori said. “When he knows, like he can’t really hurt a guy or nothing, he’ll fight like, he’ll fight, he’ll run, he’ll score.
“He’s like, ‘Oh, you got to beat me to become the champion. His mentality is not like, ‘I am the champion, I’m going to f*ck you up. That’s my f*cking reign.’ He’s thinking like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna cruise. If you want to come and beat me, you’ll have to beat me.’ That’s how he thinks. That, to me, will never be – he can’t be the pound-for-pound best. Pound-for-pound best is like, ‘You’re f*cking with the champion, this is my reign, I’m gonna destroy you.”
The middleweight champion has yet to respond, but knowing him, he has a response locked and loaded. Or, he will ignore it because he has another rematch to prepare for at UFC 271 when he fights Robert Whittaker for the second time.
Vettori is on the sidelines waiting for a matchup to create itself, as the division is kind of all locked up at the moment.
