Was Marvin Vettori robbed of a victory against Israel Adesanya?

Marvin Vettori picked up an impressive victory against Karl Roberson, winning the fight via quick first-round submission to cement his position in the middleweight division. With the win, Vettori is now on a three-fight win streak, and well on his way to secure a fight against a top-ranked opponent.

Back in 2018, Vettori came very close in snapping Adesanya's win streak, however, he suffered a close split decision loss to the Stylebender. Since then, Vettori has picked up unanimous decision victories over UFC veteran Cezar Ferriera and Andrew Sanchez. Vettori picked up his first performance of the night bonus when he submitted Karl Roberson via rear backed choke in the first round in a catchweight bout at UFC Fight Night 172. Soon after the fight, Vettori revealed that he wants to settle old scores with Israel Adesanya. It has long been a topic of debate, and Adesanya's split decision win over Marvin Vettori continues to be a decision surrounded by varied opinions, eerily similar to Khabib Nurmagomedov's victory over Gleison Tibau.

"It's not over. I think we have to settle it. We need another fight, for sure."

Vettori had said after UFC 248, where he criticized Adesanya's performance against Yoel Romero and claimed that it showed his (Adesanya) "true colors."

“I want to climb back to the title shot and get my rematch with Adesanya. It was so close. We have to redo it. No matter who says I won it, who says he won it. We have to redo that. He speaks more about me than anybody else. And I’ve not even wrecked yet so f**k yea, we have to do it again. And I have to climb myself.”

Marvin Vettori said, soon after his victory over Karl Roberson at Fight Night 172. With three victories back to back victories to his name, Vettori has earned an opportunity to compete with the ranked opponents of the middleweight division. However, before pitting Vettori against the likes of Darren Till, Kelvin Gastellum, or even Derek Brunson, and Ian Heinisch, let's take a closer look at Vettori's controversial decision loss to Israel Adesanya back in 2018 at Fight Night: Poirier vs Gaethje.

Did Marvin Vettori Beat Israel Adesanya Back in 2018

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According to UFC Fight Stats: Israel Adesanya landed 57 out of 123 significant strikes, while Vettori managed to connect 46 out of the 127 strikes he threw at Adesanya. However, Vettori managed to connect a total of 60 strikes compared to Adesanya's 67 strikes when we take total connected strikes. Despite the close gap, Adesanya was a more efficient striker with a significant strike percentage at 46% compared to Vettori's 29%.

Adesanya was also a step ahead against Marvin Vettori in terms of strikes thrown to the head, and the body. However, Vettori dominated Adesanya with leg kicks. While the stand-up game favored Israel Adesanya, Marvin Vettori completely outclassed Adesanya on the ground. After a close-fought first two rounds, where the first round could have gone either way, Vettori looked in complete control going into the third. Marvin Vettori was able to takedown Israel Adesanya and successfully took him down two times out of the six attempts tat he made inside the octagon. He managed to keep Adesanya on the ground, and managed to secure a win in the third round in the judges' scorecards.

Referee Derek Cleary, and Chris Hayes scored the first two rounds in favor of Israel Adesanya, while Chris Lee scored the first round to Larvin Vettori. All the judges scored the third round in favor of Vettori for a split decision victory for Israel Adesanya.

While Marvin Vettori did indeed showed holes in Adesanya's game back then, he failed to dominate Adesanya on the feet. Adesanya connected uppercuts, and landed vicious elbows, bursting up Marvin Vettori in the early rounds. Despite the dominant performance from Vettori in the third round, Adesanya looked vicious with his strikes and secured more damage. Marvin Vettori was the first tough test for Israel Adesanya. He also emerged as the first fighter to last till the final bell against Israel Adesanya, who had obliterated each of his opponents till then via KO/TKO. It's safe to say that Adesanya was the winner that night, however, it's hard not to agree with Marvin Vettori who wants to face Israel Adesanya going forward. He was the first real challenge that Israel Adesanya ever faced inside the octagon.