Middleweight contender Marvin Vettori addressed the press at the official UFC Vegas 75 media day ahead of his main event …
what’s up Marvin how are we good it’s kind of empty today now half of the media’s here a good one all good I feel like Jared’s one of the the few guys in the top of the middleweight division that you haven’t fought yet so after your last fight did you kind of know I’m going to be fighting Jared yeah yeah um yeah that’s why you know it was the one uh Missing basically in the top five so it said you know I want to do it and um and also it excites me because uh he’s a good fighter and um he’s gonna bring the best out of me and so that’s what I want you know a good opportunity to just show how good I am yeah I was asking him earlier if because you guys have been at the top for so long Now you kind of know exactly what the other one has to bring right you’ve seen their fights you’ve always been looking at them as potential opponent do you kind of know what to expect from Jared on Saturday yes yes but I don’t think [Music] I don’t think he knew exactly what I’m gonna do because I’m constantly improving and um I’m definitely gonna he’s gonna it’s definitely gonna be an improved version on myself and um you can’t prepare for that because I always come with some more you know yeah but yeah overall I mean for sure like we’ve been around and uh yeah we definitely kind of know what kind of Fighters we are but like man this fight will be amazing this this fight will be a banger like like I really wanted to be the best performance of my life he was saying out here earlier that he actually you know because some people regard you as a Grappler but I’ve seen you in Thailand you’re working on the strike and you came here and had a barn burner with Paula Costa on the feet he says that he actually thinks he might be the one to take you down and use his ground and pound on you and uh he did say that he wanted to be the first person to finish you and and take that cherry so I’m curious when you hear that please please please try and go on and do it please please yes come bring it let’s go like like I cannot welcome it more than that like I cannot welcome him more please bring it just just bring it like big drama show like like Triple G says come on bring it on please let’s try like just just let’s just fight like like there’s not a second round just bring it like please that that to me shows not confidence on himself to be honest with you but um yes please let’s just let’s make it that way like like bring it because that’s listen early on I always like sometimes I go back and watch my first few fights it was all first round finishes because I was just I was going in and I was just like I’m gonna go out and just finish this fight so I have that in me if somebody brings it out it’s just but trust me you ain’t gonna he ain’t gonna survive like I’m my will to just not let out there like to just not give up give out and they’re just it’s just too strong like he’s there’s no one there’s never gonna finish me so please like yes bring It come on Jared let’s bring it out the first round I don’t think I’ve seen you this sort of excite for a match up in a while what is it about this guy in this particular style matchup that’s got you so excited I just think you know like I’m improving and I’m and I’m growing as as a fighter as a person everything like I mean it’s just uh I see fighting different that you know like the ability that I have to like um see a fight even in the me even meanwhile is going on like my ability to make adjustment in a fight uh is getting much better like um I’m getting more loose and more relaxed in there and uh I’m adding things to my game he’s just uh it’s just like an evolution on myself you know and that’s why like um not just as a fighter even as a person as a as a man and um that’s why I think you know what do you think the stakes are for this fight right obviously you guys both want a title shop you’re both trying to get back to to Israel do you think if you beat him in you know spectacular fashion you can get that fight in September or do you think well I kind of have to just face facts and it’s either going to be Rob Rodriguez yeah I mean but it is what it is to be honest like um I want to take like you know after this fight so my whole focus is to just like you said I go out and just put on a great performance finish him in a spectacular fashion or regardless just put on a very dominant performance um after that I think everything will fall into place and um no I mean I think that’s even though maybe it’s not official but it’s I think that fight is kind of like a title Eliminator and I mean yeah I mean you know like with that with the South African thing like one at one is more African than the other kind of makes sense like whoever like uh wins eventually get that fight even though I don’t don’t see going that way if Whitaker wins then he definitely deserve a title shot um so we’ll we’ll let that that fight play out and then um and then I’m next and then you know like I’m next so but again like I’m not even overthinking that too much like my whole Focus now is on Saturday night yeah what do you make of the whole African African thing and how do you think Drake is Stacks up against Robert Whittaker and all that um no well I think Whitaker is going to win but um African more African I don’t know man there’s so much so many things in the world like I was there first I was there after I’m more you know I I deserve this more because it’s I don’t know I I you know like it’s it’s weird you know like seeing like some some African super white it’s kind of weird but uh uh it is like that because you know for Generation they’ve been there so I don’t know it’s it is what it is you know but it’s it’s you know it it was funny to watch and then I mean to see it happening and it is what it is I mean yeah I don’t know though if uh if Rob does win and fights Israel for a third time do you think he can make the adjustments to get the victory I think you can to be honest with you this rob this is like he’s uh yeah he I think I think you can um we’ll see we’ll see but I yeah I think he can even I think even his last fight it was more of like a he went in very like shy in a sense if it was from the get-go more um you know like convince of himself that he could do it he could have done it even the last time but I I want to fight Whitaker at one point again in my career so that’d be that’d be that’d be awesome if I can fight it for we’ll see we’ll see I I I swear I’m not even overthinking about title because it’s it’s too much you know you like logically you might think one one thing and then the u.sc just goes on and do it completely opposite like it is what it is you know you just you just do your best with what you have and that’s it thanks is there anybody in the UFC more Italian than you no not even close not even close how has it been training now at extreme Couture it’s good man there’s a lot of like uh uh sparrings you know it’s uh there’s a lot of middleweights uh it’s always it’s always good round and uh it’s good it’s good is that the one thing you’ve been missing throughout your career it’s just having big bodies to train with like but not really I mean I had like maybe two too much of big bodies back then I was always sparring for Doom like every day almost so no like you know I always find my way to to find good partners um even I mean even even Strickland now is here but like he was in California before so we we go back a long time training together and uh no I mean I mean here there is more but I always had like you know always find my ways how has it been training with Strickland almost every week good good but we we go back a long time it’s good training like you always you know we always bring it it’s always it’s always good training for sure are you living in Las Vegas now yeah yeah yeah um how has been the transition now California to Vegas it’s been easy man like first of all they’re not too far and then you know I was coming out here a lot anyway you know the UFC base is pretty much here the pi is here that’s you know that’s that’s already itself a game changer you know it’s like it’s great and then um you know I just see this as a base and as the base is perfect because you can always bring out your coaches you can turn into Pi you know for sparrings you got extreme and then and you know for training and and all that you know like for bodies you you got extreme and so yeah I mean it’s uh it’s good man I think it was a good move does Las Vegas have good pizza yeah yeah yeah yeah do you yeah I’m always a cheap Riani and cheap reality have good pizza yeah um obviously your buddy Daniel didn’t get the victory this weekend I just wanted your thoughts on that fight yeah it’s uh yeah I don’t know bro like I uh dude this guy’s a beast man he I I have just amazing thing to say about this um happens sometimes um I know some things went wrong but it it is what it is man he’ll be back and that’s all I can say to be honest I mean he’ll be back a lot of your thoughts Paulo Costa Sean Strickland two top seven middleweights they’re fighting unranked Russians in their next fight yeah why do you think the UFC is doing that is it because they’re trying to rebuild the middleweight division fresh blood you know like I think they want fresh blood you know like like um it’s been you know like the best guys have been have been beating all the up and comers and it’s horror man to make it through the rankings like you know like some of us did like I did like you know 12 10 like he’s like you know you got to be very consistent you got to keep beating you know like good guys but with very different styles is it ain’t easy and even even harder is to get is to then get past like top five you know so it’s good you know the same you know at the end of the day these guys they’re getting paid the same to fight guys who are ranked and if you know obviously a lot of just take but some people think that way too like you know I’d rather fight vittori number three or I’d rather fight like an Iran guy and get paid the same some people you know I’m not saying that that was the case for them but it’s also like that sometimes you don’t know that much about these guys it could be an easy night and you get paid the same so you know and finally um you know say you get past year this weekend you don’t get the title shot would you be the one to welcome hamzajimaya to to the division oh I’ve always welcome him everywhere like it’s yeah for sure like if he wants it I’m here I’m never I’ve never turned on any fight and never like pulled out of any fight so please yeah bring it to thanks man going into your last fight you described it as a personal fight to yourself and in general due to the trainings together with your last opponent and having some mutual friends going into this one against Jared how would you describe it but even the last one like personal because I said I wanted to um to you know to to get back from a loss and I never like I would never I never had like two losses in a row personal over yeah because also but um now this is like at least listen I have I have nothing against the canonia and um you know when you put so much work into something it’s personal it’s it’s it’s you know you make it personal for yourself but it’s not personal in the sense that I have anything against him you know so I just need to I just see it as like um high level competition two of the best fighting uh uh fighting and um like I said I’m excited because he’s going to bring the best out of me and um your last four victories have come via decision is there any chip on your shoulder that really is driving you towards getting that finish this weekend there is there is uh um I definitely want a very dominant Victory I definitely wanna um you know I’m definitely looking for for um for a finish at the same time at this level I cannot let it get to my head and then you know maybe lose a fight because I’m going after I finish too much so there is though like I I I do want to finish I can tell you that much and uh I am working more and more to uh to finalize uh my opponents um yeah in all honesty there there is but at the same time like I said these guys are not easy to to you know to to be taken out where we’re you know and and the fights it’s still like five five minute rounds or three five minute rounds is not to the death he’s not to you know we don’t have a limit a limited time and um so um yeah I I there is but I can’t let it get to my head too much and I know the focus is on Jared this weekend but you just said you would like to face whittaken Whitaker again later down in your career how differently would you approach a rematch with him always want to fight him again you know but like um definitely Whitaker because um yeah because my game has improved a lot and and I think uh you know he he really opened my eyes on the fact that like you know like I needed I needed to kick more in my fights I couldn’t just like approach it like almost like a boxing fight um understanding and so um yeah uh that for sure like like you know I would be way way less bothered by his kicks and I would know how to deal with those and a lot of things you guys gonna see like how much of a different fighter I am uh this this fight around Marvin right here there was uh a video that came out a couple of weeks ago it was you and Bisping and you’re both choking out the two Steves how does that even come up like how did they approach you with that you know uh me and Stevo uh we go back a little bit because we met each other at some fights and uh we’ve always been cool and he came out to me like uh hey bro you wanna jump me out like after the fight and I’m like yeah I’ll do it no problem and then um so I was thinking I was gonna chill came out and then um he’s like hey like you know we got we were here like me and Steve will do it are you going to choke him out like all right yeah I’ll do it too so then uh then basically came around so basically then he came around like that and then uh you know if I had to choke off Steve oh I was like no problem I know this guy like he ain’t gonna like he ain’t gonna go nowhere we you can throw him off of a cliff like this guy’s not gonna die like this guy’s like solid as hell like he’s gonna like after me probably but we still will do it I don’t know you know so that’s why like um I had to be more surgical with it like like make sure that he just goes out just enough um but yeah that was funny though that that that that that’s how he came out to be honest and then like I’d be hard-pressed not to get a Sean Strickland story out of you before you get out of here like I mean there was I think there’s a month or two ago he was going off on a story you guys went to the go-kart track he was kind of chirping oh you’re on the go-karts yeah yeah yeah we went to this K1 uh race it was just too crowded you know and uh there was a friend of mine that was also going with me and basically I don’t remember who cut her off or she’s just like well we were racing right and somebody Cut Her Off for like I don’t know if it was me or him and just like you know she just like she kind of hurt herself but not too bad uh but yeah that was funny I mean me and him are always competitive you know and uh yeah thanks brother the uh the Stevo impression was on point by the way thank you oh perfect [Music]