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Israel Adesanya has revealed his favorite bit from the main event bout against Marvin Vettori. The UFC middleweight champion stated that he felt very powerful when he put his hand around Vettori's neck and choked his opponent.
During the UFC 263 post-fight press conference, Israel Adesanya claimed that he didn't feel threatened and wasn't even bothered when Vettori had him locked in a rear-naked choke.
Instead, Adesanya turned it on his opponent and grabbed 'The Italian Dream' by the neck. The middleweight champion added that he could see Vettori's soul leave his eyes and even reminded his opponent of how scared he was midway through the fight.
"My favorite bit of the fight actually, so far, was when he thought he had a rear-naked choke and he probably got excited like, 'Yeah this is it'. And then I wasn't even bothered, I wasn't threatened. I turned it on him and I put my hand on his neck, you know like that x-rated s**t when you choke someone and you look em' in the eyes and I swear to god, I saw his soul leave his eyes. I said to him, 'You're scared, aren't you?' I said that to him, find the tape. And I felt very powerful in that moment."
Israel Adesanya successfully defended the UFC middleweight title for the third time at UFC 263. 'The Last Stylebender' defeated Vettori in a rematch after their bout in 2018, which saw Izzy win via split decision. Adesanya dominated the Italian challenger throughout the entirety of five rounds at UFC 263.
While the champion wasn't able to finish the fight, he was certainly able to keep his word of dominating the bout for its entirety.
Israel Adesanya has made it known that he wants to face Robert Whittaker in a rematch next
Immediately after his winning performance at UFC 263, Israel Adesanya called out Robert Whittaker for the rematch. 'The Last Stylebender' didn't waste much time putting the former UFC middleweight champion on notice and said he wanted to run back the fight in his own territory of Auckland.
Adesanya became the undisputed UFC middleweight champion by beating Whittaker at UFC 243. 'The Last Stylebender' will look to silence all doubters and solidify his place as the best 185lbs fighter in the game by beating 'The Reaper' once again.
