By Gabriel Atumeyi
365Daily – Israel Adesanya successfully defended his middleweight Ultimate Fighting Championship title on Sunday morning, beating Italian Marvin Vettori in the main event of UFC 263 at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
Adesanya put up a dominant display over Vettori, winning 50-45 on all of the judges cards.
Adesanya and Vettori first did battle in 2018, with the Nigerian winning via a split decision in just his second trip to the Octagon.
The win is Adesanya’s third title defence after losing to Jan Blachowicz in a bid to add the light heavyweight title to his laurels.
Vettori believed he won his 2018 clash with Adesanya and never stopped calling for a rematch with the man who would go on to become UFC middleweight champion.
He got his rematch on Sunday in the main event of UFC 263 and came up empty, with Adesanya taking a clear decision victory in Arizona.
Adesanya showed improvements on his ground work as he expertly untangled himself from all of Vettori’s takedowns.
Renowned as one of the best strikers in the division, the 31-year-old landed several leg shots and jabs as he dimmed Vettori’s dream of becoming the first Italian UFC champion.
Vettori had only a few successful moments in the fight, scoring with a handful of takedowns, but Adesanya showcased improved grappling skills as he escaped back to his feet every time, including spinning out of a rear-naked choke attempt to end up in top position. Outside of those fleeting moments for Vettori, the fight was all Adesanya’s as he worked Vettori over with a steady diet of leg kicks.
In the end, Adesanya took every round on all three official scorecards, winning by scores of 50-45 across the board.
Meanwhile, Nigerians have been reacting to the win. They took to social media to shower accolades on Adesanya, who returned to winning ways after his loss to Poland’s Jan Blachowicz in an attempt to add the light heavyweight title to his collection in March.
Miami Heat power forward, Precious Achiuwa, took to Twitter to congratulate his countryman on the win, “Izzy is undisputed for a reason #onlytheviolentsurvive.”
Ejike Kanife said, “Israel Adesanya went all Kung Lao on Marvin Vettori. Styled all over that guy over five rounds and totally turned the Italian dream into a Nigerian nightmare. Well fought Izzy. That was very good MMA.”
“This Israel guy showed brilliance all through, knows when to use the leg, much improved from the last fight. Vettori had his moment too, but Israel outsmarted him. Good one Israel Adesanya! The last stylebender,” Kehinde Bamidele wrote on Twitter.
“Izzy makes UFC look so easy to participate in. Congrats to Israel Adesanya for another fatality win,” @Captainjosie
Others believe Adesanya learnt some lessons from his loss to Blachowicz, which helped him against Vettori.
Stopple tweeted, “You can tell Izzy took that Jan loss like a champ and improved tremendously, Marvin couldn’t even get him down and even when he did Izzy popped right back up, there are only two names among middleweights I wanna hear, Adesanya and Whittaker, both leagues above others.”
“Izzy really learnt a lot from the Jan Blachowicz fight. His take down defence was amazing, I almost thought he lost it when Vettori had him locked in. Congratulations champ,” @guru_kalexis wrote.
“Izzy has obviously learnt how to handle grappling from Blachowicz fight,” Abraham Akomafe added.