Marvin Vettori may not have been in an arch rival state with his fellow UFC middleweight Paulo Costa, but come this 23rd October at UFC Fight Night 196, the Italian mixed martial artist has all the enthusiasm to make sure his opponent in the headline event bites the dust inside the Octagon, as Vettori’s intentions are crystal clear- he wants to knock out Costa.
I don’t need anything personal to beat somebody unconscious: Marvin Vettori
Marvin Vettori, who recently challenged reigning UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in their second encounter at UFC 263 back in June, has not really had the same level of verbal antagonism with Paulo Costa ahead of their upcoming fight, with Costa himself being another one of ‘Stylebender’s fiercest rivals in the past.
Despite the lack of strong enmities between them, the ‘my enemy’s enemy is my friend’ equation will not be working for Vettori, as he is not really a fond of Costa, even though they never shared personal attacks in the past unlike the case with Adesanya.
In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Marvin Vettori revealed that it doesn’t matter if things have gotten personal or not with Costa, he is still eager to drop the Brazillian to the canvas this weekend at the UFC Apex.
“I feel like we’ve been pretty quiet for the buildup to the fight. We’ll see how fight week (goes). I don’t like the guy necessarily,” Vettori said in the interview, “He’s not a guy that I would get along with as a friend. He talked a bunch of sh*t before, here and there. But personally, I don’t know him. He never did anything to me too much that is personal. With that being said, I don’t need anything personal to beat somebody unconscious. I don’t need anything personal, especially to (deal with) the problem in the cage.”
Just like Vettori, Costa’s most recent Octagon appearance is also against Adesanya, but it dates back to more than a year at UFC 253 in September last year, when ‘The Eraser’ suffered his first career defeat.
While Vettori admits Costa to be appreciable in his striking, he still puts himself above and claims to do the fan service on 23rd October- to KO the Brazillian.
He further asserted, “I see it as, like, (my opponents) all have a part of what I want, regardless. Whoever gets in there is trying to stop me from getting what I want, so I don’t need to be mad to just mess up somebody’s face.”
“He’s good in some areas of the striking,” the 28-year-old went on, “He definitely has a pop in his punch, and he definitely can crack. But I feel like, in general, as an MMA fighter, I’m superior. Even as a striker, I’m superior.
“I’m gonna give the fans what they want. I want to knock this guy out, loud and clear. My mind is ready, my body is ready, and my spirit is ready, and I’m just ready to go,” concluded Vettori. [H/T MMA Junkie]
Highlights:
- Marvin Vettori is eager to knock out Paulo Costa in their upcoming clash at UFC Fight Night 196
- Marvin Vettori is coming off of a defeat against Israel Adesanya at UFC 263
Who do you think wins Vettori vs Costa? Let us know in the comments.