"He holds onto that loss better than his best wins" - Israel Adesanya believes he's living rent-free in Marvin Vettori's head

Israel Adesanya believes he’s living rent-free in Marvin Vettori’s head. 'The Last Stylebender' had a lot to say about 'The Italian Dream' ahead of their upcoming rematch.

The first fight between Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori witnessed Adesanya defeat Vettori via split decision at UFC on FOX: Poirier vs. Gaethje. Adesanya subsequently went on to win the UFC middleweight title, while Vettori amassed an impressive five-fight win streak. Their rematch is set to take place at UFC 263.

In a video posted on his official YouTube channel, Israel Adesanya spoke about his UFC 263 fight against Marvin Vettori. 'The Last Stylebender' stated –

“I wanted to fight Rob (Robert Whittaker). I wanted to fight Rob after I’d seen him with Kelvin (Gastelum). But, you know, Marvin was like, ‘I wanna go in October. I wanna go in September’. I’m like, ‘Look, I’m going in June. Whoever wants it, step up’. And, yeah, the Italian stepped up. So, kudos to him.”

Additionally, Israel Adesanya compared his upcoming rematch against Marvin Vettori to Kamaru Usman’s UFC 261 rematch against Jorge Masvidal. Adesanya alluded to Usman beating Masvidal in their first fight at UFC 251, experiencing how it felt to face Masvidal and beating him even more dominantly at UFC 261.

The middleweight champion insinuated that he intends to beat Vettori more convincingly in their rematch than he did in the first fight. Adesanya said –

“But yeah, we already know. Kamaru already gave them a taste…Kamaru just gave them a little taste, a little taste of what it’s like. You know, you already know the person, and you’re like, right. You know you already have their number.”

Israel Adesanya proceeded to jest about Marvin Vettori holding on to the success he had with a single-leg takedown in their first fight. Adesanya noted –

“And he’s still holding on to that f**king single-leg like he’s holding on to that loss.” Adesanya and his acquaintances then joked that Vettori holds on to that single-leg takedown while he sleeps every day. Adesanya added, “He holds on to that loss better than his best wins. So, yeah, I’m in his head rent-free, camping.” (*H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription)

Furthermore, upon being asked about the venue for his rematch against Vettori and whether or not fans will be allowed to attend the event, Israel Adesanya revealed that he doesn’t know anything about it as of yet.

Israel Adesanya returns to middleweight to defend his throne against Marvin Vettori at UFC 263

Marvin Vettori attempts a takedown on Israel Adesanya

Israel Adesanya’s last fight took place at light heavyweight against the division’s champion Jan Blachowicz, with Blachowicz’s title on the line. Adesanya and Blachowicz headlined UFC 259, and their fight went the distance. It ended up being a unanimous decision win for Blachowicz.

This marked Israel Adesanya’s first loss in his professional MMA career. Nevertheless, Adesanya is still the UFC middleweight champion and has vowed to return to his division and continue his reign at 185 pounds.

Meanwhile, Marvin Vettori’s most recent fight was a unanimous decision win over Kevin Holland at UFC on ABC: Vettori vs. Holland.

Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori are scheduled to face each other in a rematch, with Adesanya’s UFC middleweight title on the line. Their rematch will headline UFC 263 on June 12th, 2021.