No. 6 ranked middleweight Marvin Vettori spoke at the post-fight press conference after he defeated no. 10 ranked middleweight Kevin Holland at UFC Vegas 23 (aka UFC on ABC 2) on Saturday.
As far as what Vettori wants next after such a decisive victory, “The Italian Dream” made his case for why he believes he’s next in line to challenge Israel Adesanya for the UFC middleweight title.
“Five [fight] win streak. Accepting anybody at any time. Always showing up. Always making weight. Never complaining about nothing and I just show up and I just beat these guys very dominantly,” Vettori said. “I leave no doubt. The last fight that I had with Adesanya was the closest fight that he’s ever had and in my eyes I still won it and that fight has to be made again.”
Vettori lost a split decision against Adesanya in the middleweight champion’s second fight in the promotion in 2018. Aside from the middleweight champion’s unsuccessful venture into the light heavyweight division to challenge Jan Blachowicz for the 205-pound title belt, Vettori is the only fighter to take Adesanya to a split decision in his career. Therefore, he believes his recent winning streak has earned him a shot at the belt.
Marvin Vettori wants to sit cageside with Dana White for Whittaker vs. Gastelum
“The Italian Dream” then looked on to other potential middleweight title challengers after making his case.
“I don’t think Robert Whittaker is that hungry, and next week, like I said, I want Dana [White] to give me a ticket for me to sit next to him to watch the fight and that fight will say a lot,” Vettori said. “But regardless, I think I’m next in line and I deserve it. I was supposed to fight Darren Till, but Darren Till didn’t show up. Now he’s out. I’m the most hungry by any means, and I’m next man. I’m next. Nobody has the winning streak that I have. All my opponents have been solid, and I’m next.”
UFC Vegas 23 results: Marvin Vettori routs Kevin Holland, calls for Israel Adesanya
When asked about an ideal time for Vettori to fight, he said some time in the fall.
Vettori also went into detail about his desire to sit next to Dana White for the fight between Robert Whitttaker and Kelvin Gastelum.
“I want to tell him I’m next in line first, and that’s a very important fight in the middleweight division and so I wanna say, ‘Dana, look, I’m here. I’m next’,” Vettori said. “Plus, Kelvin is my teammate. I wanna see that too.”
UFC 259 highlights & recap from Israel Adesanya loss to Jan Blachowicz
(Subscribe to MMAWeekly.com on YouTube)
Marvin Vettori wants Israel Adesanya rematch after UFC Vegas 23 win