"Terrible gameplan" - Michael Bisping points out the flaws in Marvin Vettori's performance at UFC 263

UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping has pointed out the flaws in Marvin Vettori’s performance against Israel Adesanya at UFC 263.

Bisping, who serves as a UFC commentator and is a widely respected MMA analyst, systematically broke down the Israel Adesanya vs. Marvin Vettori fight. On BT Sport’s UFC 263 Review Show, Bisping expressed his disappointment in Marvin Vettori’s performance in the fight.

Shedding light upon what Marvin Vettori did wrong against Israel Adesanya at UFC 263, Michael Bisping stated:

“My big takeaway from this fight when you look at it is that Israel Adesanya was so cool, calm, and composed, which is the way he always fights. On the flip side, you had Marvin Vettori, and he was a big ball of tension. He was stressed out, and he was all tight. That’s the worst way to fight, and certainly against a guy like Adesanya; a cool customer, an absolute master technician. You know, you gotta be cool, you gotta be calm, you gotta be in the moment. But he was all tense, and he was just trying to knock him out with every shot. Yeah, terrible gameplan (by Vettori), but a fantastic performance by Israel.”

Watch the video below:

Michael Bisping suggested that Marvin Vettori should've mixed things up after his first plan failed

Israel Adesanya (left); Marvin Vettori (right)

Another notable point discussed regarding the fight was that Marvin Vettori did the same things repeatedly. Michael Bisping chimed in with his views in this regard. ‘The Count’ reiterated that Marvin Vettori made a mistake by sticking to the same tactics throughout the fight even though he wasn’t finding much success with them. Bisping said:

“Yeah, absolutely. And as we know, that is not how, you know; if the first plan isn’t working, you gotta mix things up. And you’re right, Adam. It was just rinse and repeat the whole time,” Bisping noted, addressing his co-host, BT Sport’s Adam Catterall.

Bisping continued, “Trying to punch his way into a clinch. And then on many occasions, even when he got the clinch – And when you’re going in for the clinch and you’re trying to get a takedown against the fence, the holy grail is joining your hands behind the backside. Once you do that, you can kind of pick them up and put them down.”

“We saw many, many times he would get to that point and he would stall. It’s like he was trying to summon up the energy to try and take somebody down. And to be honest, I’m not surprised. Trying to take somebody down when they’re not letting you is absolutely exhausting. So, I think trying all those takedowns wasn’t the smartest thing. Being one-dimensional obviously wasn’t the smartest. And trying to load up with power shots every time against a guy like Israel – that’s so fast and so slick, and has the height and reach advantage, and knows how to use them – it’s just, it was a terrible approach.”

Addressing another one of his BT Sport UFC 263 Review Show co-hosts, Nick Peet, Michael Bisping explained:

“Listen, Adam said it best. Sorry, pardon me. Nick said it best. You know, he’s still young… Listen, Marvin, he needs to learn. He needs to mature a little bit; took me a long time. I mean, the reality is that last night I found out he’s only 27. I should’ve known that before. I was like, ‘Wow! He’s 27”. I just thought he was older because he’s been around so long. So, he’s still a kid, to be honest. I know that sounds disrespectful. He does have some maturing to do. You have got to calm down. Being angry is a terrible state of mind to be in, certainly against someone like Israel.” (*H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription)

Following his win over Marvin Vettori, Israel Adesanya is now likely to defend his UFC middleweight title in a rematch against the division’s former champion Robert Whittaker next.

Meanwhile, in the aftermath of his UFC 263 loss, Marvin Vettori has expressed interest in facing fellow high-ranking middleweight contender Paulo Costa in his next fight.