Vettori vs Costa Preview

There are many fights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship fans are desperate to see and that includes a meeting between Marvin Vettori and Paulo Costa. Both men fight in the middleweight division and as things stand in the in the middleweight rankings, Vettori is ranked in 5th place while Costa is in 3rd place. Israel Adesanya is the man who leads the way as he is the current UFC middleweight champion.

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Recent talk coming from the Vettori camp has been about avoiding a potential clash with Costa and focusing on an attempt at the middleweight title. The Italian wants a title rematch against Adesanya following his split decision defeat in April 2018. Since that loss, Vettori has been in good form and he has recorded four successive UFC victories. The wins have come over Cezar Ferreira, Andrew Sanchez, Karl Roberson, and Jack Hermansson.

The latter of which was a late call up following the positive COVID-19 test of Hermansson’s original opponent, Kevin Holland. Vettori responded to the call and won the fight via unanimous decision, earning him the Fight of the Night award.

Costa on the other hand, would be coming into this potential contest on the back of a defeat against current champion, Adesanya. The fight took place on the 27th of September and saw the end of Costa’s unbeaten record. Adesanya won by TKO and the win streak in the UFC ended for Costa. Not only did the Brazilian suffer his first defeat, but it was also the first time Costa had been finished to strikes in his mixed martial arts career. He will be looking to bounce back quickly and with style.

Talking about the potential meeting between Vettori and Costa, UFC chairman, Dana White, said, “I love that fight”, before continuing, “We’ll see. But yeah, I love that fight.”

Initially, Vettori was keen to sign up for the fight but has since has a change of heart and would rather aim straight for the top man. “I want to go straight to the title,” Vettori said. “I like the Costa fight, but I feel like the top five there’s no opposition. Cannonier just lost, Darren Till is … I don’t even think he’s top five. Costa just lost brutally and Jack was No. 4. Whittaker wants to just enjoy Christmas with his kids. I don’t blame him; it just doesn’t really seem like he wants to fight for the title.”

However, there are potential super fights on the table for Adesanya against Jan Blachowicz and Jon Jones, so it is unlikely he is going to share the same enthusiasm as Vettori.

Vettori would get a title shot, if he were to defeat Costa, and that is surely where his future lies, regardless of the comments coming out of his camp. Adesanya himself has previously discussed a fight between Vettori and Costa, believing a victory over the Italian would give Costa a shot at the middleweight title.