Marvin Vettori believes Israel Adesanya’s time as the UFC middleweight champion is nearly over.

Adesanya is set to defend his title against Alex Pereira at UFC 281 in a highly-anticipated bout as Pereira is 2-0 against the champ in kickboxing, including knocking him out once. However, ‘The Last Stylebender’ has been vocal in saying he is confident he will get his hand raised this time around, but his former rival in Vettori doubts that.

“His time is over,” Vettori said of Adesanya to The Mirror. “I don’t even believe anybody really likes him. It’s over. His whole antics are bull***t, he says one thing but never does it. He talks the talk but never walks the walk. I don’t want to look past this fight because it’s very important, but if things plan out the way I think they’re going to play out, you’re going to see me fight Pereira after this fight.”

If Alex Pereira does beat Israel Adesanya at UFC 281 as Marvin Vettori expects, the Italian believes it will be good for the middleweight champion. The Italian says he’d rather have Pereira as the champion and welcomes a future matchup against him.

“So I believe he has the advantage on the standup for sure, Adesanya’s not going to try and take him down, definitely not. I don’t mind this guy [Pereira], he’s quiet and brings it. There’s not much bull**** around him, I’d definitely prefer him as the champion than Adesanya.”

Of course, if Pereira does become the champ as Vettori says, the Italian will need to beat Robert Whittaker in the co-main event of UFC Paris in order to get a crack at the Brazilian. But, regardless, it appears Vettori will be rooting for Pereira to beat Adesanya to change the middleweight division.

Do you agree with Marvin Vettori that Israel Adesanya’s time as champion is over?