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Marvin Vettori outgrappled Paulo Costa to earn a unanimous decision victory in October last year. The fight was moved from middleweight to light heavyweight as Costa faced serious issues cutting weight.
According to Sean Strickland, the UFC asked him to step in as a replacement for Costa on a day's notice. Strickland, a good friend of Vettori's, called up to check with the Italian, who supposedly didn't have a problem with him accepting the bout. 'Tarzan' told the media at the UFC Vegas 47 post-fight presser:
“They asked me whenever Costa was having too much wine and cookies, they offered me a lot of money to take that fight. I called Marvin and told him they’d offered me a lot of f***ing money and that I have to say yes. And Marvin said, ‘I can’t blame you for saying yes.’ So in that situation I said yes, but in a normal situation, I’d be really uncomfortable fighting him.”
Watch Sean Strickland at the UFC Vegas 47 post-fight scrum below:
Sean Strickland delivered an impressive performance against Jack Hermansson in the main event at UFC Vegas 47. Strickland controlled the range and pace throughout the five rounds to earn a split decision win.
When Sean Strickland praised Marvin Vettori
Sean Strickland is known for his infamous sparring sessions. One's that end with his sparring partners getting knocked out. Strickland claimed that many UFC fighters avoid sparring with him due to his notorious reputation.
However, the No. 2- ranked middleweight contender Marvin Vettori is not one to shy away from a hard sparring session. According to Strickland, 'The Italian Dream' is the only UFC fighter to train with him. The 30-year-old wrote on Twitter:
"I'm gonna let you guys in on a little secret... A lot of UFC fighters SUCK and usually their kinda p*****s who just like to beat up the lower level pros and have a ufc logo on them. Most of them won't spar me... Marvin Vettori is the only UFC fighter I train with lmao we go hard!"
Irrespective of the comradery between the two, fans can undoubtedly expect Vettori and Strickland to go up against each other inside the octagon in the near future.
