The Takedown | UFC 263: Israel Adesanya is all fired up – which could spell bad news for Marvin Vettori
- Middleweight champ pokes and prods at challenger’s ‘roid rage’ with security separating the pair at heated press conference
- ‘The Last Stylebender’ rose to another level after fractious build-up to Paulo Costa fight, and Vettori might be playing into his hands
Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori are fired up for their big title fight rematch, and that’s putting it mildly.
Thursday’s UFC 263 pre-fight press conference in Phoenix’s Arizona Federal Theater saw the middleweight elites take centre stage. They were side by side with flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo, Brandon Moreno, Leon Edwards and the ever-popular Nate Diaz, but there was no outshining the main event.
There was consistent back and forth banter between the champion and challenger that began essentially every time either responded to a question. “I run your career,” Adesanya said in the closing moments of the presser. By this point, Vettori had had enough.
Adesanya poked and prodded at Vettori’s “roid rage”, trying to entice him to fight then and there. His wish was almost granted as security intervened to hold the 27-year-old Italian back. Water bottles and sunglasses were left as the lone casualties of the spat, however.
This third title defence attempt from “The Last Stylebender” will come in the form of his first rematch in his 21-fight MMA journey. First defeating “The Italian Dream” eight fights ago in 2018, the bad blood between Adesanya and Vettori was nowhere near this level, with the two also involved in a hotel altercation this week.
And this could all play very nicely into the hands of the Nigeria-born Kiwi, who tends to thrive when his opponent tries (and fails) to get in his head.
