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UFC 263 will witness a middleweight title fight between Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori in the main event. The co-main event is a fight for the UFC flyweight belt between Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno. The PPV is set to take place this coming weekend on June 12th, at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
Given that both these fights are long-awaited rematches and championship fights, saying that UFC 263 will be an action-packed spectacle would be an understatement.
Israel Adesanya will make his return to middleweight at UFC 263 to defend his belt against Marvin Vettori. His previous fight was a light heavyweight title fight at UFC 259, where he suffered his first MMA career loss to light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz. Adesanya and Vettori have faced each other in the past at UFC on Fox: Poirier vs. Gaethje. Adesanya was declared the winner of this fight via split decision.
The co-main event will witness Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno facing each other after their previous fight at UFC 256. Figueiredo vs. Moreno 1 was a long-drawn technical battle that saw nearly all facets of an MMA fight being put to use for all five rounds. This action-packed fight saw both fighters engaging while standing up, in the pocket, in the clinch, and on the ground.
The judges declared this fight a majority draw, and it was honored as the 'Fight of the Night'. The bout was regarded by many, including UFC president Dana White, as the greatest fight in the history of the UFC's flyweight division.
Although the fight between Figueiredo and Moreno is a co-main event, it holds the potential to steal the spotlight from the main event.
Here are 5 reasons why Figueiredo vs. Moreno can outshine Israel Adesanya vs. Marvin Vettori at UFC 263:
5) More action in the pocket
Fighters usually avoid engaging in the pocket because the resulting exchange of strikes can become a factor to decide the winner within seconds. When one of the fighters has a longer reach than their opponent, they prefer not to engage in the pocket and fight from a distance.
Israel Adesanya is a fighter who has a big reach advantage over his opponents at middleweight because of his height. Naturally, he avoids engaging in long drawn striking exchanges in the pocket and prefers to hit his opponents from a distance where they cannot counter from.
Brandon Moreno has a two-inch reach advantage over Deiveson Figueiredo, but that is not a significant difference. Hence, their previous fight saw a lot of exchanges in the pocket. This fight will be no different.
Strikes in the pocket are generally more stimulating to an audience as they are fast and powerful. They hold the potential to stun, knockdown, or knockout one of the opponents and bring the fight to an end.
4) High-level grappling and scrambles
Israel Adesanya has a background in kickboxing, and he has transitioned it beautifully into MMA. Resultantly, though, 'The Last Stylebender' seemingly depends too much on his skills as a striker. Effectively, he seldom initiates grappling outside of a clinch.
Whenever Adesanya faces opponents who are likely to put his grappling skills to the test, he maintains enough distance from such opponents and uses long-reaching strikes to keep them at bay. He also constantly switches stances to keep opponents guessing as to which leg to grab for a single leg takedown.
Some of his opponents successfully closed the distance and found the right time to grab his leg, but not all attempts were successful. Adesanya would defend their takedown attempts either by using well-timed sprawls or underhooks.
The few times he did get taken down, 'Stylebender' has shown the ability to use his grappling defensively and take the fight back to standing position. Adesanya has never had a win by submission on his professional record.
This is not to say that his fight with Vettori would not see any grappling. In their previous fight, Vettori put Adesanya's grappling to the test more than any other fighter had before that fight. However, it may not compare with the scrambles we might witness in Figueiredo vs. Moreno 2.
Figueiredo and Moreno will willingly initiate grappling owing to multiple submission wins on their record. Figueiredo has three submission wins on his record, while ten of Moreno's eighteen professional wins were by submission.
In their previous fight, both fighters went into the clinch and to the ground several times. Hence, it would be safe to say that Figueiredo vs. Moreno would see a lot more grappling than Adesanya vs. Vettori.
3) Immediate rematch keeps the hype intact
The first Figueiredo vs. Moreno fight happened on 12th December 2020. The gap between the first fight and the one that will take place this coming weekend at UFC 263 is just six months. In that time, neither fighter has fought anyone else. Given that this epic fight was a draw, UFC president Dana White announced in the UFC 256 post-fight press conference that the two fighters would get a rematch.
In contrast, the first Adesanya vs. Vettori fight happened back in 2018. Between these three long years, Adesanya made his way up to the top and defended his belt twice against Yoel Romero and Paulo Costa. Vettori was also busy making his way to title contention.
Back in the first fight, Israel Adesanya wasn't the middleweight champion. This made it a three-round fight as opposed to a five-round bout between Figueiredo and Moreno. Adesanya was also not as popular back then as he is now.
The hype created by a six-month-old, five-round championship belt fight that ended in a draw would be far bigger than a three-year-old fight that had just three rounds.
2) Adesanya's style is more defensive than offensive
Israel Adesanya is a master of distance management. He does not shy away from using his touch-and-run style of striking. His usage of feints complements his distant management by making it slightly aggressive as it helps him set up long-reaching attacks. This style secures him victories, and he will stick to it as long as it gets the job done. However, MMA fans do not find it as exciting as a continuous exchange of powerful strikes between two fighters.
In his recent fights, some fighters responded to this style by simply waiting patiently for the right time to land an effective strike while keeping him on his toes with feints. More often than not, this has led to many dull moments where neither of the fighters was doing anything effective to make the fight reach a swift conclusion.
As a result, five of Adesanya's ten previous fights have gone the distance. His infamous fight with Yoel Romero is the biggest example.
1) Adesanya's loss to Jan Blachowicz
In his previous fight, Israel Adesanya moved up a weight class to face the 205lbs champion Jan Blachowicz. The Polish champion was the shorter fighter at a two-inch reach disadvantage even though the fight was in a higher weight class. Hence, he was expected to lose the same way Adesanya's previous opponents had.
With Adesanya's use of distance management, it was speculated that Blachowicz's only way to victory was through grappling as he was the bigger fighter among the two.
However, the outcome of the fight was totally different. Jan Blachowicz not only out-grappled Adesanya, but he also out-struck him. Blachowicz saw through all his cards. He exposed the flaws in Adesanya's striking as no other fighter had done before. The fight went to the end of the fifth round, and Blachowicz was declared the winner by unanimous decision.
After this convincing loss, fans can be sure that Israel Adesanya will not be the same fighter. He is likely to make plenty of tweaks and improvements in his fighting style. Especially so when Vettori would want to capitalize on the same flaws that Blachowicz exposed and capitalized upon.
Fans do not know what to expect from the Nigerian in the coming fight. However, they have a clear idea of what to expect in the rematch between Figueiredo and Moreno and justifiably excited.
Which rematch do you think will be more exciting on the UFC 263 card? Figueiredo vs. Moreno 2 or Adesanya vs. Vettori 2? Sound off in the comments.
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