Marvin Vettori has changed his thoughts on Costa Fight, now wants title shot

Following an impressive win over Jack Hermansson in the UFC Vegas 16 main event, Marvin Vettori first called out Paulo Costa but now seems to have changed his thoughts and wants a title shot next.

Marvin Vettori was emotional following his UFC Vegas 16 main event victory over Jack Hermansson and rightfully so. Over the summer, Vettori earned a win over Karl Robertson and said he deserves an opportunity to fight a top contender. He was beating guys left and right and his only loss since 2017 came by a split decision to current middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.

Vettori finally got his shot on Saturday night and he made the best of his opportunity. After going back-and-forth with Hermansson for twenty five minutes, Vettori walked away with the win and now he’ll be ranked in the top five of the middleweight division.

Marvin Vettori wants a title shot next

During his post-fight interview, Marvin wasted no time looking ahead at what comes next, mentioning interest in a potential showdown against former title contender Paulo Costa. Minutes later, Marvin recalled that request once he had a little bit more time to get the lay of the land in the middleweight division.

Marvin Vettori said though he called out Paulo Costa, f*** Paulo bc he just came off a “crazy loss” and eyes the title shot #UFCVegas16 pic.twitter.com/hlTlTfvGkN

— Helen Yee (@HelenYeeSports) December 6, 2020

“To be honest with you, before I called out ‘Borrachinha’ (Paulo Costa), but f*ck ‘Borrachinha,’ he just came out of a crazy loss,” Vettori said at the post-fight press conference. “Why would I even fight him? I want to go straight to the title. I’ll be really honest. I like the fight, but I feel top-five there’s no opposition. There’s no real opposition.

“[Jared] Cannonier just lost. Darren Till, I don’t know, I don’t even think he’s top-five. ‘Borrachinha’ just lost brutally and who else is there? Jack was No. 4. [Robert] Whittaker wants to just enjoy Christmas with his kids, which I don’t blame him, but it doesn’t seem like he really wants to fight for the title.”

In his most recent outing, Costa did suffer a second-round TKO loss to Adesanya after they spent months involved in a volatile rivalry.

Meanwhile, Vettori has his own history with the reigning UFC middleweight champion following a split decision with Adesanya back in 2018. After coming up short that night, Vettori vowed to eventually earn a rematch, and now, it appears he might be closer than ever to attaining that goal.

“Israel is full of sh*t,” Vettori said. “He was like, ‘Oh I don’t think I will ever see Marvin again, he will never make it to the title.’ Well, guess what mother**ker? I’m here.

“He thinks he has it all figured out. He’s got nothing figured out. I know his true colors. I met him a few times. I fought him. I know his true colors. I want that fight.”

Beating Hermansson is a big win for Vettori on his resume and it should land him a top-five opponent in his next fight. With Adesanya moving up to 205lbs to fight Jan Blachowicz in his next fight in 2021, Vettori will likely have to get at least one more win in the meantime over a top-five opponent in order to prove he should be next in line.

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