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Marvin Vettori believes that Alex Pereira could emerge victorious in his upcoming fight against Israel Adesanya at UFC 281.
Ahead of the UFC's first-ever event in Paris, 'The Italian Dream' made an appearance during media day and answered several questions.
At one point, Vettori was asked about his prediction for the upcoming middleweight title fight between 'The Last Stylebender' and Pereira. The 28-year-old said that Adesanya could very well suffer another brutal knockout loss to 'Poatan' considering the two fighters rely heavily on their striking skills.
"I really hope like, he goes out on another oxygen mask, and I think it can happen because that's gonna be a kickboxing fight."
Catch: Vettori's full appearance at UFC Paris media day below:
Pereira and Adesanya fought each other twice during their kickboxing days. In both contests, it was 'Poatan' who had his hand raised.
The first fight was a decision victory but in the second encounter, the Brazilian scored a vicious knockout, after which Adesanya needed oxygen support to recover.
Marvin Vettori fought Israel Adesanya twice
Marvin Vettori and Israel Adesanya have crossed paths on two separate occasions in the UFC.
The first contest took place in April 2018 when both middleweights were rising prospects in the promotion. The bout ended with a split decision victory for the New Zealander. The three judges scored the contest 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28 in favor of 'The Last Stylebender'.
The two later got matched up for the middleweight championship at UFC 263. This time, Adesanya left no room for doubt and scored a dominant unanimous decision victory with a 50-45 score on all three judges' scorecards.
Vettori is scheduled to take on former champion Robert Whittaker in the co-main event of the UFC Paris event. A win over 'The Reaper' could possibly put 'The Italian Dream' in line for another title shot.
But the 28-year-old recently stated that he would prefer to fight Pereira instead of Adesanya for the UFC title. He said at the recent media day:
"The things that he [Israel Adesanya] can do best now is painting his nails. I definitely like more Pereira, the way he carries himself and the way he goes about fighting. Not much bullsh*t, straight bad motherf*cker type thing, I like him."
