Israel Adesanya cruises past Marvin Vettori during UFC 263 title defense

The middleweight champion may not be so vulnerable on the mat after all.

Three months after losing a bid to become a two-division champion and showing a weakness in getting back to his feet once taken down, Israel Adesanya refused to be held down by Marvin Vettori.

Instead, the champion spent the bulk of his successful middleweight title defense in the UFC 263 pay-per-view main event at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz., pounding the lead right leg of the Italian and landing his typical precision punches en route to a unanimous decision, 50-45, 50-45, 50-45.

The win for Adesanya (21-1, 15 finishes) puts to rest a testy buildup beween the Nigerian-New Zealander and the Italian, three years after the champ won a three-round decision as they were early in their respective UFC tenures. As the decision was being read afterward, the two shared a serious conversation, which the champ said was about showing respect.

“At the end of the day, I don’t like you, you don’t like be, but this is martial arts; show some respect,” Adesanya said in the octagon moments later, “ because that’s lost in this game, so he didn’t have that.”

Adesanya struck first, winning the first round thanks to effective use of his kicks. Vettori scored an early takedown that tested the champ’s ability to get back to his feet — three months after showing weakness in that area during an unsuccessful big to claim the light heavyweight title from Jan Blachowicz — but Adesanya scrambled back to his feet and did not return to the mat in the round.

The champ said afterward that nothing about Vettori’s strategy surprised him.

“Even at the press conference when he stood up, I sat down because I didn’t feel any threat,” Adesanya said dismissively of the challenger, whom he now has beaten twice and likely will not face again.

The hands of Adesanya found their target well in the second, augmenting the success of his kicks. Vettori, who through two fights between them performed better while applying pressure, managed to back the champ up to the cage and clinch near the end of the round, but he did little to land effective offense from the position.

Vettori wasted no time bringing the fight to the floor to start the third, pinning Adesanya to the mat from the top in half guard. He briefly secured the back of the champ before Adesanya spun out and wound up on top. A deep, and apparently inadvertent, eye poke from Adesanya paused the action midway through and a low kick to Vettori’s cup created another break right before the end of the round. Still, the champ appeared the clear round winner.

Another early takedown from Vettori in round four appeared to be another opportunity for the challenger to create an opportunity on the mat, but Adesanya quickly reversed and stood up to go back to his world class kickboxing arsenal. The Italian’s lead right leg bore marks of damage from the many heavy leg kicks, and Adesanya was rarely in trouble on the feet.

Needing a finish — likely via submission — Vettori was never able to put Adesanya in danger in the final frame as the champion cruised to a clear shutout on the scorecards.

Brandon Moreno
Brandon Moreno
Zuffa LLC

In the first title fight of the night, Brandon Moreno upset flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo in a rematch from December’s draw. The judges weren’t needed this time, as he secured a tapout because of a rear-naked choke at 2:26 of the third round.

Moreno (19-5-2, 14 finishes), who became the first UFC champion from Mexico, was the sharper man throughout. He flexed an effective and active jab in the first round that, at one point, dropped Figueiredo (20-2-1, 17 finishes).

The second frame was closer, with each man finding some success in both grappling and striking. But Moreno won the round on two of three judges’ scorecards after effectively creating scrambles out of potentially-hazardous situations, punctuating one ground exchange with a quick postured punch. Moreno did return to his corner with a knot on his head, however, courtesy of defending champion’s elbows from the bottom.

Moreno was back to the jab in the third before securing a takedown and quickly taking Figueiredo’s back. After initially fending off immediate danger of a choke, Moreno slipped his arm back under the Brazilian’s neck and notching the championship victory.

“I worked so hard for this, man,” an emotional Moreno said in the octagon after the win, staring with disbelief at his new championship belt. “… Watch me now holding this, man. It’s unbelievable.”

Nate Diaz, at left, and Leon Edwards
Nate Diaz (left) and Leon Edwards
Getty Images

Preceding the championship bouts, Leon Edwards survived a harrowing final 90 seconds to secure a clear unanimous decision, 49-46, 49-46, 49-46, against Nate Diaz. The bout was the first non-title, non-headlining bout in UFC history scheduled for five rounds.

Edwards (19-3, nine finishes) brutalized the lead leg of the popular Diaz (20-13, 16 finishes) with early leg kicks and opened up big cuts above the left eye and on the right side of his opponent’s head. He landed several impactful punches in the middle rounds, putting Diaz in clear finish-or-lose territory

But a patented slap-punch combo from Diaz had Edwards on wobbly legs, barely keeping from suffering any more fight-altering punches over the final 1 ¹/₂ minutes to hang on for the decision in a welterweight bout with potential title implications.

source: nypost.com