When it comes to setting the benchmark for Italian MMA, few individuals are more noteworthy than Marvin Vettori.
The 27-year-old has already improved so much over the course of his young career and yet, it seems as if there are so many chapters still to be written.
This Saturday night he’ll attempt to extend his UFC win streak to five when he meets Kevin Holland on short notice. Prior to that, though, we thought it’d be interesting to run through a few of the reasons why Vettori is viewed as such a hot prospect at middleweight.
Fiery personality
One thing is for sure – Marvin Vettori is authentic.
He’s gone full Hulk mode in a hotel lobby after his fight was called off, he’s gone off on social media multiple times, and you never really know what he’s going to say in interviews. When you piece all that together, we’re left with a pretty enthralling individual.
Italy’s great MMA hope
Alessio Sakara will forever be known as a legend, but Marvin Vettori is the future.
Italian mixed martial arts hasn’t really blossomed like many other areas of Europe but Vettori seems to be the exception to the rule. He has most of the country behind him and when you consider how passionate they are about their athletes, we could be looking at a special talent.
Strong cardio
In his last fight against Jack Hermansson, Vettori had to dig deeper than he ever has before.
He was viewed by many as an underdog but instead of cowering, he went in there and produced a relentless pace that had the majority wondering how he was able to have such an insane output.
Moving forward, that’s going to be really important in this division.
History with Adesanya
He may have lost to Israel Adesanya via split decision in April 2018, but that was a very close fight.
Vettori hung on in there against the future champion and gave ‘The Last Stylebender’ real problems. If we fast forward three years, Vettori hasn’t been beaten inside the octagon since that night in Arizona.
Is anyone else thinking “rematch”?
Well-rounded game
Superb wrestling, impressive striking and lethal submissions – Marvin Vettori is the full package.
We’re talking about someone who isn’t afraid of any style or technique and who has never been finished in his professional career.
Sure, there are plenty of warriors out there, but with Vettori sitting at sixth in the middleweight rankings it’s really difficult to see who is going to slow him down.
Featured image credit: Getty