Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has been relatively quiet ahead of his UFC 263 rematch with Italian standout Marvin Vettori.
Adesanya (20-1 MMA) and Vettori (17-4-1 MMA) originally collided in April of 2018, with the promotions reigning middleweight champion emerging victorious by way of split decision.
Since then ‘The Italian Dream’ has gone on to win five fights in a row, his latest being a dominant decision victory over Kevin Holland.
Meanwhile, Israel Adesanya will enter UFC 263 looking to rebound from the first loss of his professional MMA career. ‘Stylebender’ had his ambitions of becoming a champ-champ halted by Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259 back in March. Prior to that setback, the middleweight champ had reeled off two title defenses over opponents Yoel Romero and Paulo Costa.
Adesanya, who has been very quiet in the leadup to his rematch with Vettori, took time this afternoon to remind fight fans the he is still a troll.
https://twitter.com/stylebender/status/1398585304911474688
“UFC 263, I been quiet online. But just know…I’m a troll.” – Adesanya captioned a video comparing Vettori to Sloth from the hit 1980’s film ‘The Goonies’.
Israel Adesanya has proved to be a very outspoken fighter in the past, so one can only assume that this is the beginning of a large wave of future trash talk towards the Italian.
Marvin Vettori has made it clear that he intends to utilize a similar gameplan to that of Jan Blachowicz when he attempts to dethrone ‘Stylebender’ at UFC 263.
“With Jan, the last time he got taken down, he kind of quit,” Vettori said of Adesanya on Real Quick with Mike Swick. “He was just laying there. Adesanya, when it comes to the middle of the cage, when he’s taken down in the middle of the cage and he doesn’t have the cage, he’s pretty useless on the floor to be honest. Kevin Holland is a better jiu-jitsu player than Adesanya for sure.”
Do you think Israel Adesanya will be able to defeat Marvin Vettori for a second time when the pair collide on June 12 at UFC 263? Share your predictions in the comment section PENN Nation!