Who needs a press conference to hype Adesanya vs. Vettori 2 when you’ve got Zoom and a pair of live mics?
During the UFC Vegas 28 broadcast, UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori joined the show to discuss their upcoming UFC 263 main event this Saturday. Adesanya & Vettori have rarely if ever had anything nice to say about one another, and that trend certainly continued when the two exchanged words during a live, split-screen interview.
The tension began when Vettori gave his version of the backstory between himself and Adesanya.
“It happened three years ago. It went like it went,” Vettori said. “I think I won that fight, but now we get to settle the score and…” <interrupted by Adesanya’s laughter> “Yeah, no, he laughs, but he’s gonna see. He’s gonna see. I’m gonna settle the score once and for all. And I’m gonna show the world who’s the best middleweight around.”
Adesanya began his response with the simile of Vettori holding on to his three-year-old loss to Adesanya like it’s his best friend. Vettori snapped back that he’s not holding on to anything but merely stating facts. The Last Stylebender was then allowed to have the floor to address Vettori at length.
“Listen, this time, I’m gonna finish the job,” Adesanya vowed. “I’m gonna finish the job. Last time, you had hope. You had hope because one dumb judge gave you that fuckin’ fight when everyone else knows that you lost that fight. But this time, I’m gonna make sure I finish the job so no doubt…when you look at me, you’re gonna look at me…and look at me <draws closer to the camera>. You’re gonna look at me, and you’re gonna realize that it’s over.”
“There are some things that you can’t lie about,” Vettori finally interjected. “And what you can’t lie about is that face that you had after your fight. The same face you had after the Jan Blachowicz fight, you had against me.”
The two would then go back and forth in disagreement about how their initial fight transpired before the middleweight champ threw another simile Vettori’s way.
“He’s like that crazy ex-girlfriend that you dumped and won’t leave you alone,” Adesanya assessed. “They’ll keep stalking you, scratching your car, coming to your workplace, harassing you…”
“I’m your nightmare, buddy! I’m your fucking nightmare!” Vettori passionately interjected.
“Bro, you’re “The Italian Wet Dream,” Adesanya responded. “You’re The Italian Wet Dream. You ain’t no nightmare. Shut the fuck up. You’re that little ex I dumped.”
The video would then wind down with more heated exchanges and expletives shared between the UFC 263 headliners while Bisping forced a close to the segment.
You can check out a clip of the exchange below (via ESPN MMA):
Who do you think got the better of this exchange between Israel Adesanya & Marvin Vettori?
