UPDATE: Per Combate, this fight is in fact in the works for UFC 263 on June 12.
Marvin Vettori seems to have earned himself a title shot following his win over Kevin Holland.
The UFC middleweight division is heating up after a brief slow period. Champion Israel Adesanya took some time to give light heavyweight a try, but now that he is back down at 185 pounds he might have his next dance partner. According to UFC president Dana White, the next challenger for the middleweight crown could be Marvin Vettori.
“It’s looking like Rob Whittaker, who just fought on Saturday night, isn’t going to be ready to fight Israel Adesanya at the time Israel Adesanya wants to fight, so it’ll probably be Marvin Vettori first,” White said on the Bill Simmons Podcast.
Vettori earned this position when he took down Kevin Holland at UFC on ABC 2. Holland was a last-minute replacement for Darren Till. The bout against Till was being regarded as a title eliminator fight, but when Holland stepped in many thought Vettori would need one more win especially since there is another viable option in Whittaker. Whittaker had a very impressive win over Kelvin Gastelum which could have put him in the running.
Vettori always knew he should be next for a title shot and said so publically. Following the Whittaker win, he reiterated his case for the belt. Now that the timetable lines up these two could be standing across the cage from each other by summer.
White gave Vettori some high praise in his interview and thinks Vettori could help put the UFC on the map in Italy. He compared his reach in his home county of Italy to Conor McGregor’s in Ireland.
Do you think Marvin Vettori deserves the title shot over Robert Whittaker?
