Getty
NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 20: MMA fighter Chael Sonnen discusses Bellator MMA at Build Studio on June 20, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Matthew Eisman/Getty Images)
Getty
NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 20: MMA fighter Chael Sonnen discusses Bellator MMA at Build Studio on June 20, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Matthew Eisman/Getty Images)
UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya successfully defended his crown against Marvin Vettori in the headliner of the UFC 263 event this Saturday. Many sports outlets and fans alike termed it as a one-sided affair but a certain Chael Sonnen believes the match wasn’t fully about Adesanya.
Through his YouTube channel, Sonnen detailed his analysis and also slammed some sports outlets for unnecessarily terming it as a one-sided victory.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
“Adesanya vs Vettori, guys, I saw something else,” he said. “I saw a close and competitive fight. is aw a fight where they were trading rounds back and forth. When the fight was over, I was very sure Adesanya won. Worst-case scenario, it was 2-2 going into fifth and he won the fifth.”
Sonnen believes the scoreline of 50-45 doesn’t justify the match and Adesanya didn’t win all the rounds.
WATCH THIS STORY: Top 5: Daniel Cormier best finishes in UFC
Chael Sonnen hits hard on news outlets
As mentioned earlier, Sonnen found it difficult to understand how the outlets can term it as a one-sided victory for Adesanya (21-1).
“And I even read on dirt sheets that I go to. The manias and the elbows. ‘Easy night for Adesanya’, things like his they would say, are you kidding? What fight did you possibly watch? That was a back and forth,” he claimed.
Sonnen added, “But to make or believe or for anybody to write that article that Adesanya cruises to victory over Vettori, I just thought its scummy thing to do.”
Getty
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – FEBRUARY 10: Israel Adesanya of New Zealand is introduced prior to his middleweight bout against Anderson Silva of Brazil during the UFC 234 at Rod Laver Arena on February 10, 2019, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
“Because now you are dismissing Vettori… you are kicking Vettori down, and that’s not what happened. That was a battle.”
The ‘Badguy’ then compared Vettori’s effort to that of Yoel Romero and light heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz. Both gave a tough competition to Adesanya previously.
Getty
LAS VEGAS, NV – DECEMBER 30: Marvin Vettori of Italy walks back to his corner during the UFC 207 event on December 30, 2016, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
According to him, Vettori played a bit better than Blachowicz and pulled Adesanya to the canvas two times more. He even did better than Romero and pulled Adesanya to the canvas 3 times more.
Adesanya and Vettori certainly treated fans to a spectacle. But Adesanya, just like many times prior to this, eventually outclassed his opponent. It is hard to imagine anyone displacing him as champion soon.
As for Vettori, he needs to rethink his strategy, while he may get past the rest of the fighters, but he needs to push more when coming up against the best.
READ MORE: Henry Cejudo Says Badou Jack “Will Kill” Logan Paul In Boxing
