“If I were to bet money on this fight, it would be hard to bet because they both suck.” – Israel Adesanya
Sunday, Israel Adesanya released a video where he pulled up a chair; enjoyed a nice, tall glass of Brazilian wine paired with Italian pizza; and gave a thorough breakdown of the upcoming fight between his two “children,” Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori.
It’s fight week again, and the upcoming main event this Saturday features top-5 middleweights Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori. UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya is no stranger to either competitor, with the Last Stylebender holding a total of three victories over them.
Although both men lost to Adesanya in their most recent contest, Izzy remains an invested observer in the movement around the top of the division. Thus, he will be tuning in this Saturday night along with the rest of us, but don’t expect to catch the champ in the Sportsbooks come fight night.
“How do I see this fight going? To be honest, like I said, if I was gonna bet, I’m not too sure,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “But I’ll go first with Vettori.”
Adesanya Shares Marvin Vettori’s Path To Victory Over Paulo Costa
Despite making the decision not to put any skin in the game, Adesanya went ahead and provided a free breakdown on par with any gambling sharp’s input.
“I would say Vettori is a guy that, when he fought me the last time, he didn’t want to fight. He wanted to survive,” Adesanya said. “He wasn’t trying to win, if you know what I mean. I’ll give him his improvements. His boxing defense was improved. He had better leg movement. His leg was open to bet hit. His attacks were basic. Nothing’s wrong with basics because basics are good. But yeah, his attacks were basic. He was repetitive. He was predictable, very predictable.”
Notwithstanding the flaws Adesanya picked up on from The Italian Dream and the fact that he has already picked Costa to win, the champion still sees a path to victory for Vettori.
“To be honest, I think Vettori’s biggest weapon in this fight is his chin, is that block head, that fuckin’ LEGO block head,” Adesanya assessed. “That’s his biggest weapon in this fight because he can take Costa to deep water by taking punishment, some rope-a-dope shit without the rope-a-dope. Just walking forward and taking punishment…
“I’d say his method of victory is just taking Costa to deep water by grappling him and stalling or just making him work.”
Adesanya Gives Advice To ‘Son’ Paulo Costa Ahead Of Main Event
Adesanya would then turn his attention to Borrachina, whom the champion says must bring the fight to his Italian opposition from the opening stanza.
“Costa’s path to victory in this fight: Get him out early,” Adesanya advised. “I feel like: Do what he did that got you to the dance, that got you this far. Because you’re not fighting me. You’re fighting Vettori. And he’s got shitful work, even worse than you. So I feel like Costa can just do what he does and just bullrush him, bulldoze him. But be careful of the takedowns because Vettori’s gonna try that: to time it and take him down.”
Ultimately, Adesanya claims that as long as his “children” give it their best, that’s all a proud father could really ask for, regardless of the final outcome.
“I don’t really care who wins, to be honest,” Adesanya admitted. “I just wanna see a good fight. I wanna see my children do well. I really wish the best for my kids and my kid’s kid.”
It was at this point in the video that Adesanya was ambushed with “paternity test results,” which revealed in Maury Povich-esque fashion that he is, in fact, the father of Paulo Costa.
You can view Adesanya’s full breakdown as well as the surprise paternity test results in the video below.