UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and his rival Marvin Vettori got in a heated war of words ahead of their rematch at UFC 263.

Adesanya and Vettori meet for the second time inside the Octagon next Saturday night at UFC 263 with Adesanya’s 185lbs gold up for grabs. These two previously met in April 2018, with Adesanya edging out a split decision. They meet again three years later, only this time with Adesanya entering the fight as the champion. The rematch between these two rivals is one of the most highly-anticipated fights on next weekend’s stacked pay-per-view card, and both fighters made sure to talk some smack and help get more fans interested in it.

Speaking on the UFC Vegas 28 broadcast, both Adesanya and Vettori went back and forth, with Adesanya suggesting that this time around he is going to go in there and finish him.

https://twitter.com/espnmma/status/1401365055799767046

The verbal warfare between @stylebender and @MarvinVettori is heating up ahead of #UFC263

The first fight between these two was very close and competitive, but ultimately Adesanya was able to edge out a split decision, and he hasn’t lost as a middleweight since then. However, in his last outing, he dropped a clear unanimous decision to UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz that showed a big hole in his defensive wrestling. A grappling-based fighter such as Vettori will likely look to exploit that part of Adesanya’s game as it would be the clearer path to beating the champ than to stand and trade.

This should be an awesome fight between two of the best middleweights in the world, and the winner will have gold wrapped around their waist a week from now. Adesanya is the betting favorite to get the job done once again, but Vettori is certainly a live underdog.

How excited are you for the rematch between Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori at UFC 263?