UFC 263: Has Marvin Vettori Improved Enough To Dethrone The Last Stylebender?

UFC 263 is back to Arizona! The main card headliner is a fiery rematch between the Middleweight Champion, Israel Adesanya and number 3 ranked Marvin Vettori. The story going into this title clash goes thus: Has Vettori improved enough from their first fight to dethrone Stylebender?

Recall that they first fought in 2018, a fight Adesanya won via a split decision. Vettori has since claimed he won that fight and has never shied away from calling out Adesanya after he became champ. An impressive five-fight winning streak and the unavailability of Robert Whittaker has dropped this shot in his laps.

Like the Dustin Poirier vs Conor McGregor rematch, we have to build a case on why this fight will have a different result from the first. Let’s start with Vettori. He has improved generally as a fighter, made technical adjustments and corrected his cardio issues. His wrestling was fine-tuned in the fight against Kevin Holland but his striking, sadly, still doesn’t measure up. He got pieced up on the feet against Holland and his striking defense was non-existent against Jack Hermansson. Of his five victories since losing to Adesanya, he has only one finish — a 2020 submission victory over Karl Roberson.

Adesanya has also improved generally as a fighter. Since that night in 2018, he has gone on to beat 6 ranked opponents including the champion and undefeated Paulo Costa. Half of those victories were spectacular finishes that showed how well his take down defenses and ranged fighting had improved.

Many people fancy Vettori’s chances in this fight because of Adesanya’s light heavyweight loss to Jan Blachowicz. On paper, Jan’s strategy looks easy to replicate — avoid leg kicks and threaten a nuclear right hand in the first 3 rounds then wrestle in the championship rounds. While Vettori is a tough out for any 185 pounder, he is smaller and less powerful than the Pole and is less likely to make Adesanya work at a deficit on the feet.

In conclusion, Vettori hasn’t improved enough to dethrone Stylebender and like the bout between Jorge Masvidal and Kamaru Usman, I predict him getting knocked out in the second round by Adesanya.