Adesanya retains UFC middleweight belt after striking clinic against Vettori

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Isral “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya made a statement and displayed one of the most dominant performances in the middleweight division.

Recovering from his first UFC Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) loss against current UFC light heavyweight Jan Blachowicz, Adesanya showed fight maturity and raked all five rounds against challenger Marvin Vettori to raise the middleweight belt in the octagon once again.

Losing in his last fight due to poor ground defense, Adesanya improved in that facet and had nine total successful take down defenses against Vettori.

Adesanya’s crisp striking broke Vettori’s rhythm and did not allow him to capitalize with his wrestling prowess.

Vettori had some moments in the fight and locked up a perfect rear naked choke position in the third round but Adesanya’s terrific ground sprawl defense allowed him to reverse their position.

Adesanya quickly pounced on top of Vettori forcing the Italian challenger to spend lots of energy on defense that became his last take down of the fight.

Vettori became passive in the next two rounds and lacked the offensive artillery against Adesanya where he settled for unsuccessful take downs until the last seconds of the match.

During his post-fight octagon interview, Adesanya called out former champion Robert Whittaker for a potential rematch that excited the fans in the arena.