Marvin Vettori weighs in for fight against Karl Robertson. Vettori won the fight by first-round submission.
Marvin Vettori pays tribute to his late grandfather following his win
Saturday was a special to Marvin Vettori for a few reasons. Not only did he get a submission win over rival Karl Robertson at UFC on ESPN 10, but he got to pay tribute to his late grandfather.
“So much was going on back in Italy,” Vettori said at his post fight press conference. “Things were going crazy all around the world, (but) Italy got hit kind of first. A lot of things – my grandpa died. He passed away.”
Vettori dedicated the win to his grandfather and revealed that he was not able to be with his grandfather at the time of his passing.
“It was coming, but just the fact that I couldn’t be there was bad,” Vettori said. “It’s important being around in hard times. It was a long time coming in a sense. It wasn’t something out of nowhere. I wanted to be there. I couldn’t even be there for the funeral. I couldn’t see him. That’s what hurt me. In fact, I wanted to dedicate this win to him.”
Vettori (15-3) had a lot on his mind over the past few months. Aside from dealing with the death of his grandfather, he had to deal with numerous weight cuts, late fight cancellations and new rival in Robertson, as the two have been bitter towards one another over the past few months. Nonetheless, when it was all said and done, Vettori was happy with the outcome of the fight.
“I knew the fight would’ve gone this way,” Vettori said. “I didn’t know exactly if I was going to knock him out or submit him, but I knew he wasn’t ready to go all the way. I knew at one point he would’ve faded.”
Following the win, Vettori immediately knew what was next for him in the fight game. He wants to continue to move forward in pursuit of one day winning a UFC championship.
“I’m not a guy who gives a lot of credit to rankings, but I know I have to go through those to get a title shot,” Vettori said. “It’s still a long road, and so many things have been going on. That’s why I’ve been ready at any time for so long. I’m on a mission, man. These guys don’t get it. I know, coronavirus, safety, this, and that – but I think differently.”
