Nigerian-born Israel Adesanya has retained his UFC middleweight champion after a victory over Marvin Vettori and remains the undisputed 185-pound champion.
In the title defence, his second fight against Vettori in UFC 263, he achieved a unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45) in Glendale, Arizona.
The pair had previously met when Adesanya claimed a split-decision victory over Vettori in April 2018 in the Nigerian-born Kiwi’s second UFC bout.
The stylebender showed his class with a virtuoso performance as he picked apart the Italian’s defence over the full five rounds.
Vettori started the bout in an aggressive fashion and landed an early takedown, but Adesanya soon settled into his work and dominated the striking exchanges, using repeated kicks to Vettori’s lead leg to punish the challenger from range.
Adesanya’s control of the bout caused plenty of consternation in Vettori’s corner between rounds, as coach Rafael Cordeiro implored his man to be more aggressive in his pursuit of the takedown.