By Amaechi Agbo

Nigerian born Mixed Martial Arts fighter, Israel Adesanya has expressed optimism ahead of his birth with Marvin Vettori Saturday.

Adesanya vs. Vettori 2 is an upcoming mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that will take place on June 12, 2021 at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona, United States

It will be the return to middleweight of 185-pound champion Israel Adesanya, who puts his undisputed title on the line against Italy’s Marvin Vettori.

Nigerian-born Kiwi Adesanya, 31, moved up to light heavyweight in his last outing and lost for the first time in his professional MMA career when he was outpointed by 205-pound champion Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259 in March.

But “The Last Stylebender” remains unbeaten as a middleweight and he will return to his natural weight class this weekend to face “The Italian Dream” Vettori, 27, whose five-fight winning streak has earned him a rematch with championship gold on the line.

Adesanya and Vettori first faced off in April 2018 in only Adesanya’s second fight in the UFC. The New Zealand native claimed the victory that night via split decision, and Vettori is determined to even the score on Saturday.

“I have the advantage because I am the superior fighter”, Vettori said during a lively pre-fight press conference on Thursday night.

“I can do everything. He doesn’t have all the answers for what I bring to the table.

“He’s gotten better. He’s gotten sharper. But he didn’t add nothing, you know?”

But, during a series of heated exchanges, Adesanya fired back as he questioned Vettori’s championship credentials.

“Honestly speaking, since we last fought, you can look at the stack of people he’s fought and the stack of people I’ve fought — there’s a vast difference,” Adesanya said.

But Vettori interjected as he questioned the validity of the champion’s recent results.

“You lost against (Yoel) Romero, you lost against me, then you lost against Blachowicz,” he said.

“Who did you beat? You beat ‘Borrachinha’ (Paulo Costa)? And he was drunk the night before? That’s who you beat? Great, wow!”

“Who have you beaten?” Adesanya retorted.

“Tell me, who have you beaten? Name three top-10 opponents you’ve beaten. Name them. Exactly.”