Israel Adesanya reveals what he said to Marvin Vettori during their UFC 263 fight

Reigning UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has revealed what he said to Marvin Vettori during their UFC 263 fight.

Adesanya outworked Vettori for the majority of their title fight at UFC 263. However, the former was briefly caught in a rear-naked choke position on the ground.

Marvin Vettori had Israel Adesanya’s back and tried to lock in a rear-naked choke. However, ‘The Last Stylebender’ swiftly reversed the situation and got into the top position in Vettori’s guard.

Israel Adesanya got the better of Marvin Vettori for most of their matchup. The fight ended with Adesanya winning via unanimous decision.

Speaking to comedians Andrew Schulz and Akaash Singh on the Flagrant 2 podcast, Israel Adesanya opened up on multiple topics. Among these topics were Adesanya’s aforementioned reversal and the sequence that saw him grab Vettori by the throat.

Israel Adesanya stated:

“I remember that moment. And it’s all the work I’ve been doing with my breath coach, my performance coach; ‘cause Kai (Kara-France) was in a similar situation in our last fight at the (UFC) APEX. And he said all that work on the water made him calm. So, even when I was in that position, I was not threatened. I didn’t panic; not even, my heart didn’t skip a beat. I was calm. And then, I held it, and I reversed it straight away. And I put him like, I got him like that.”

Israel Adesanya grabbed himself by the throat and reiterated, “You know what I’m talking about. You know when you’re in the bedroom, you’re like that. There was a look in his eyes, you know what I’m saying; the X and X* sh**, you know. I swear to God I saw this look in his eyes. And he was just like, fu** it. I said to him…”

“The words I said to him were like, ‘You’re scared, aren’t you? You’re scared, aren’t you?’ I said that to him. I could see the look in his eyes. And I tried to elbow him, and I just missed. And I just missed. But, yeah, I like that look in a man’s eyes when you got them by this (throat-grab), and you look him in the eyes, and he’s scared for his f**king life. Play, fast-forward, whatever you want to do with that.”

Israel Adesanya also emphasized that he’s been working on his breathing technique with a breath coach. He insinuated that this significantly benefitted him in his UFC 263 fight.

Israel Adesanya truly believes that Marvin Vettori was scared when he grabbed him by the throat

Israel Adesanya (left) and Marvin Vettori (right)

Flagrant 2 podcast host Andrew Schulz proceeded to ask Israel Adesanya whether he felt that Marvin Vettori was scared when he grabbed him by the throat.

Adesanya responded by saying:

“Yes. Oh, no, I saw it in his eyes because that was his hope. He probably got hot thinking like, ‘Yes, this is it. I finally have the back. I’m going to choke him out. He’s got nothing’. And I just easily turned him around, and I just dominated him. So, yeah, he was scared. I saw it in his eyes.” (*H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription)

And still!Israel Adesanya reiterated his dominance of the middleweight division at #UFC263!There was no doubt this time against Marvin Vettori! pic.twitter.com/mgrOZilzCb

— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) June 13, 2021

Presently, the consensus in the MMA community is that Israel Adesanya’s next title defense will be a rematch against former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker.

Meanwhile, Marvin Vettori has expressed interest in facing Paulo Costa in his next fight.