Israel Adesanya was pinned down by Marvin Vettori, but it wasn’t enough to bounce him out of the ranks of the unbeaten.
Current middleweight champion Adesanya fought Vettori at UFC on FOX 29 in April 2018 in what was just his second octagon bout.
Vettori came out aggressive, but Adesanya did a good job of evading anything significant. “The Last Stylebender” chopped away at the legs of Vettori, who proceeded to clinch and try and muscle him down. Adesanya continued to attack with low kicks and his pinpoint jab, but Vettori fired back with some lunging shots in what was a back-and-forth Round 1.
In Round 2, Vettori immediately shot for the takedown, but Adesanya defended well. Adesanya was starting to flow, mixing things up beautifully by also working the body. Things started to get heated when Adesanya landed an elbow that Vettori claimed was an eye poke, prompting both men to charge forward and flip each other off.
In the final round, Vettori was finally able to get Adesanya down and was draped all over him. Though Vettori took the round, the late surge was not enough to win him the fight on the judges’ scorecards, losing a split decision.
Adesanya (20-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) returns to action on June 12 when he rematches Vettori (17-4-1 MMA, 7-2-1 UFC) in the main event of UFC 263, which takes place at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.
Before they runs things back, relive Adesanya’s win over Vettori in the video.