The UFC is finalizing a middleweight title battle between Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori for UFC 263, per UFC president Dana White.
Contracts haven’t been signed, however the 185-pound title battle is anticipated to headline the UFC’s pay-per-view occasion on June 12. The UFC has not but introduced a venue for that occasion.
Adesanya (20-1) is coming off a failed bid to turn into the UFC’s newest dual-weight champion. The 31-year-old challenged mild heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259 on March 6 in Las Vegas. The bout was aggressive, nevertheless Adesanya lost a unanimous decision. That end result had no influence on his standing because the UFC’s middleweight king.
Preventing out of New Zealand, Adesanya already holds a victory over Vettori from April 2018. He defeated Vettori by way of cut up choice in simply his second UFC look.
Vettori (17-Four-1) is at the moment driving a five-fight win streak, together with a call win in opposition to Kevin Holland in his most up-to-date efficiency two weeks in the past. The Italy native arguably had probably the greatest performances of any UFC middleweight in opposition to Adesanya, as one choose scored their three-round contest in his favor.
Former champion Robert Whittaker will face the winner of the June contest, White instructed ESPN.
Many anticipated Adesanya’s subsequent title protection to come back in opposition to Whittaker, the previous champion who simply beat Kelvin Gastelum in a main event last weekend. In response to White, June was too fast of a timeframe for Whittaker to show round. Whittaker instructed ESPN after his final battle that he wished a while to evaluate any potential accidents, together with a beat-up shin.