"Adesanya mind is broken" - UFC welterweight Alessio Di Chirico sticks up for countryman Marvin Vettori ahead of UFC 263 title fight

UFC welterweight Alessio Di Chirico believes Israel Adesanya is at his weakest heading into the UFC 263 title fight against Di Chirico's fellow Italian Marvin Vettori.

Marvin Vettori uploaded a short clip from his recent video interview with Israel Adesanya on his Instagram account. The clip shows Vettori dismissing Israel Adesanya's argument in Italian to counter Adesanya, who appeared to be talking in his native language. Commenting on the post, Alessio Di Chirico wrote:

"Adesanya's mind Is broken after he had (to) lose for the first time, now (he) is weak like never (before). He can't admit it."

Alessio Di Chirico's remarks refer to general concerns about UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya's mindset heading into the UFC 263 title fight.

Intent on extending his dominance into two different divisions, Adesanya challenged UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz for the 205lbs title in the UFC 259 super-fight. Despite being a favorite heading into the fight, the middleweight champion lost to Blachowicz convincingly on all three judges' scorecards. This marked the first loss of Adesanya's professional MMA career.

Although the 31-year-old is a seasoned athlete who has seen the ups and downs during his long kickboxing career, the outcome of the UFC 263 title fight between Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori will give a fair idea about the extent to which Adesanya's mindset was damaged due to the Blachowicz loss, if at all.

The winner of Israel Adesanya vs. Marvin Vettori 2 will most likely face Robert Whittaker

Israel Adesanya was originally expected to fight former middleweight champion and Robert Whittaker for the upcoming middleweight title bout. However, Whittaker refused the fight to recover from his last fight against Kelvin Gastelum in April, which the former won by unanimous decision.

Marvin Vettori, who rose to the number three spot in the official middleweight rankings recently, was the obvious next choice.

However, Robert Whittaker has defended his number one contender's spot against elite competition thrice since losing the title to Israel Adesanya at UFC 243 in 2019. The winner of the UFC 263 title fight will most likely fight Robert Whittaker, especially if Adesanya convincingly defends his belt.

UFC 263 will take place at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona, on June 12, 2021.

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