Nigerian-born Isreal Adesanya has retained his UFC middleweight champion following his victory over Marvin Vettori and he remains the undisputed 185-pound champion.
Local reports have it that in the title defence, his second fight against Vettori in UFC 263, he achieved a unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45) in Glendale, Arizona.
It would be recalled that the pair had previously met when Adesanya claimed a split-decision victory over Vettori in April 2018 in the Nigerian-born Kiwi’s second UFC bout.
It was reported that the stylebender showed his class with a virtuoso performance as he picked apart the Italian’s defence over the full five rounds.
According to eyewitness reports, Vettori started the bout in an aggressive fashion and landed an early takedown, but Adesanya soon settled into his work and dominated the striking exchanges, using repeated kicks to Vettori’s lead leg to punish the challenger from range.
It was also disclosed that Adesanya’s control of the bout caused plenty of consternation in Vettori’s corner between rounds, as Coach Rafael Cordeiro implored his man to be more aggressive in his pursuit of the takedown.
It should be noted that the win is Adesanya’s third title defense after losing to Jan Blachowicz in a bid to add the light heavyweight title to his laurels.
