Marvin Vettori celebrates a victory over Kevin Holland in the main event of UFC Vegas 23.
Marvin Vettori announces that he will now face Robert Whittaker in Paris
It seems that the fight between Marvin Vettori and Robert Whittaker that was in jeopardy of being canceled has now moved to a new card.
These two top middleweight contenders were originally set to face off at UFC 275 in June but rumors began to circulate that Whittaker was pulling out of the fight due to undisclosed reasons. It was Vettori that began to hint that Whittaker was out of their fight and began to campaign for a new opponent. However, now the fight appears to be back on but with a new date and location.
Alright so I guess since can’t find an opponent any earlier I’m fighting Whittaker in Paris.
You better show the fuck up this time.
Lets do it, I’ve been waiting for too long now— Marvin Vettori (@MarvinVettori) May 18, 2022
“Alright so I guess since can’t find an opponent any earlier I’m fighting Whittaker in Paris,” Vettori wrote on Twitter. “You better show the f–k up this time Let’s do it, I’ve been waiting for too long now.”
He followed that message up with, “Rob are we gonna do this yeah? No bulls–t, that’s the date you wanted.”
The event he is speaking about is the recently confirmed UFC debut event in Paris, France. Since the legalization of MMA in the country of France, only a small amount of professional MMA events have been held there. This is the first time the UFC will be holding an event there and many fighters are eager to get on this card. It seems that Whittaker is one of them.
PARIS @MarvinVettori @ufc #UFCParis pic.twitter.com/KPl8zNA5De
— Robert Whittaker (@robwhittakermma) May 18, 2022
It was unclear what was actually wrong with Whittaker that made him need a pushed-back date. He is coming off a loss to the champion Israel Adesanya back in February, but before that had three wins over some of the top-ranked fighters in the division. Vettori is currently ranked third in the division and would like the chance to get another shot at Adesanya himself. The winner of this fight between Whittaker and Vettori would have just cause to ask for another title shot next.
