Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori (right)(image via UFC/YouTube)

By FCF Staff

After defeating Marvin Vettori for a second time at UFC 263, Israel Adesanya is advising his rival to take some time to reflect on why he lost.

Vettori was booked to challenge the middleweight champion after winning five straight fights, following his split decision loss to Adesanya in 2019. Vettori repeatedly argued that he in fact defeated Adesanya.

The rematch wasn’t as competitive as their first fight, however, as Adesanya was awarded all five rounds by all three judges. After his latest win, Adesanya relayed the following (quotes via MMA Junkie).

“I don’t know because even at the end of the fight, I was like, ‘You can at least say I won that one,’” Adesanya said. “He’s like, ‘What? This one? This one?’ I was like, ‘Are you serious? I won that.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, no. We can’t. We can’t.’ Eric Cartman mentality, man. You’ve got to believe your own bullsh*t, sometimes. He said I believe my own hype? But wow, after that, who’s believing their own hype?”

“…I don’t know where this whole mentality comes from that, ‘Oh, you took a loss, and now you’re over.’ Nah, it’s part of life. Take it and let it improve you,” Adesanya said. “My advice to him would be to look yourself in the mirror tonight – maybe not tonight. Give it a week. Let things settle down. Look at yourself in the mirror and be like, ‘Look, Israel is better than you. Israel is better than you. Izzy is way better than you. You couldn’t do shit to him, but I’m going to get better from this.’ I swear to you, his next fight will improve if he does the work right. But you’ve got to let it go. You’ve got to let it go.”

Adesanya extended his record to 21-1 with the victory, while Vettori’s dropped to 17-5-1.