"Kevin Holland is a better jiu-jitsu fighter than Israel Adesanya" - Marvin Vettori says middleweight champion is 'pretty useless' on the ground

Marvin Vettori has given his take on Israel Adesanya's jiu-jitsu skills and claimed that fellow middleweight Kevin Holland is better on the ground. Vettori is currently on the back of a win over Trailblazer, a victory that sealed his title shot against Adesanya.

During an interview on the Real Quick with Mike Swick podcast, Marvin Vettori weighed in on Adesanya's last fight against Jan Blachowicz.

"I mean Kevin Holland is a better jiu-jitsu fighter than Adesanya is, for sure. Even when Adesanya said that I made fun of it because after the Blachowicz fight, he was like, 'Oh yeah, I was trying to go for da eep half.' I'm like, 'What the f**k are you talking about, man?'" said Vettori.

"There was no attempt to go to deep half. That shows you don't know what deep half and I know exactly what deep half is. I actually used deep half in my Roberson fight," added Vettori.

Marvin Vettori did give Adesanya props for his style of fighting and the way he scrambles. However, The Italian Dream believes that the reigning UFC middleweight champion is 'pretty useless' once the fight goes to the ground.

"But you know, he is game in the way he fights because he scrambles hard the moment you try to take him down next to the cage. But yeah, definitely, when he's down, he's pretty useless, to be honest," said Vettori.

Marvin Vettori will fight Israel Adesanya for the UFC middleweight title

Israel Adesanya will defend his UFC middleweight title against Marvin Vettori at UFC 263. The fight will be a rematch as the two faced each other in 2018, in a fight that Adesanya won.

On the back of a huge win over Kevin Holland in his last fight, Vettori will aim to surprise the MMA world and capture the UFC middleweight title when he faces the champion. UFC 263 is scheduled to take place on 12 June.