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Robert Whittaker and Marvin Vettori are officially set to happen in The City of Light. The middleweight match-up between the former interim champion Whittaker and one-time challenger Marvin Vettori will take place at UFC Paris on September 3, 2022, at Accor Arena. Both fighters made the scales without any incident on Friday morning.
At the ceremonial weigh-ins before Saturday's co-main event of UFC Paris, Whittaker and Vettori were involved in a stare-down ahead of the most anticipated middleweight contender match-up. Whittaker attempted to shake Vettori’s hand, but Vettori refused and gave him a finger wag warning the former champion that he won't show mercy inside the cage. UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard was quick enough to control the exchange getting more heated.
These two competitors will be entering the octagon intending to have another shot for the UFC middleweight crown. Both start in somewhat comparable positions for the co-main event as they have proven themselves as worthy members of the Top 5, but each has not been able to capitalize against Israel Adesanya twice.
Although ‘’The Reaper’’ has made it clear that he wishes to have one last ride against ‘’Stylebender’’ before he moves up to the light heavyweight division to try his luck for the UFC gold. Their first meeting at UFC 243 for the title ended with Whittaker getting dropped in the 2nd round. In the rematch, Whittaker managed to get to the distance with Adesanya but lost on the judges’ scorecard. But since his loss to “Wonder Boy” Stephen Thompson, the #1 ranked middleweight has won 12 of his past 14 fights.
Given that his second bout with Adesanya ended worse than their first fight, Vettori's future is even less guaranteed. Vettori lost to Adesanya via split decision in his first match. Since that loss, he went on to maintain a record of 5-0 before becoming a title contender with wins against renowned fighters like Jack Hermansson and Kevin Holland. Although he lost the title fight in a rematch with Adesanya at UFC 263, he backed it up with an extraordinary win against the Brazilian powerhouse Paulo Costa. Now he currently ranks at the #3 spot in the middleweight division at UFC putting him near to becoming a title contender.
Who deserves to get the trilogy fight against Israel Adesanya next? Let us know your opinion in the comment box below. For more news, Stay Tuned!