“He’s the Next Best Guy at 185” – Michael Bisping Says One Fighter Would’ve Been Champion by Now if It Wasn’t for Israel Adesanya

Michael Bisping was all praises for Marvin Vettori in a recent Q&A on YouTube.

The former UFC middleweight champion and one of the fan favorites recently held a Q&A with his fans. During the session, a fan asked about a possible matchup between Vettori and Khamzat Chimaev. While answering the question, ‘The Count’ said that the number 2 ranked middleweight is a tremendous guy.

‘The Italian Dream’ recently dispatched the hard-hitting Paulo Costa in a five-round war and according to Bisping, he’s the 2nd best fighter in the division.

While talking about Vettori, Bisping said, “If it wasn’t for Israel Adesanya right now, he’d be the champ, definitely.

“He’s the next best guy at 185, in my opinion, he’s doing tremendous things. I’m a friend of Marvin’s. I think he’s tremendous. That fight he had against Paulo Costa was sensational. I called that fight, I was right there, he won that fight fair and square but Paulo Costa had a lot of success and some of the shots that Marvin ate, some of those kicks and punches and the power that Costa has, Marvin took every single f***ing one of them.

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“Never took a backwards step and fired right back every single time. It was a really inspiring performance. I was already a fan but after that, I was like wow, this guy is incredible, man,” he added.

UFC’s middleweight division is stacked with contenders

Israel Adesanya is the current UFC middleweight champion. He was last seen inside the octagon back in June when he defended his title in a rematch against Marvin Vettori. It was a relatively comfortable fight for ‘The Last Stylebender.’ He won the fight via a unanimous decision. Right now, he is slated to go up against the former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in a rematch of the UFC 243 fight.

Two other contenders in the division, Jared Cannonier and Derek Brunson are preparing to face each other at UFC 271. Both are number 3 and number 4 respectively and are believed to be next in line for a title shot. Brunson is currently on a five-fight win streak with his last defeat coming at the hands of the current champ, Israel Adesanya.

Cannonier, on the other hand, faced Kelvin Gastelum in his previous fight and came out the victor. He won the fight without being put under too much pressure through the five rounds.

Another name on the list of contenders is Sean Strickland. The number 7 ranked middleweight is currently on a five-fight win streak and is one of the fan favorites. He will face Jack Hermansson at UFC Fight Night 201, and a win against him will definitely get everyone talking about a title shot for him.

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Do you agree with what Michael Bisping said about Vettori? Let us know in the comments!