Marvin Vettori Plans on Making Another UFC Title Run

Long-time UFC middleweight fighter Marvin Vettori said he still plans to make another title run despite four straight losses.

Vettori fights Ismail Naurdiev this Saturday night at UFC 332 in a middleweight bout slated for the early prelims.

It’s a big fall from grace for the Italian fighter, who fought former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya for the belt back in June 2021 at UFC 263.

But after having lost five of his last six fights, Vettori could be fighting for his UFC job against Naurdiev. Despite that, he still hopes for title aspirations.

Marvin Vettori Still Wants UFC Middleweight Title

Speaking to MMAFighting.com ahead of UFC 332, Vettori said that he still plans on making another title run despite the nasty losing skid he is presently enduring.

“It’s a long shot, for sure, but I still believe in myself. I’ve grown a lot and I take it fight by fight, I don’t look too far ahead, but for sure that’s the goal. I wouldn’t be doing this if I wouldn’t believe that I can still do it,” Vettori said.

Given how many title contenders are currently vying for the UFC middleweight title that current champion Sean Strickland holds, Vettori is correct in saying that it’s a long shot that he ever fights for the belt again.

That being said, UFC fighters need to be confident in themselves, so it makes sense that Vettori has this attitude despite the reality of his current losing skid.

Marvin Vettori Admits He’s Looked Terrible Lately

With four straight defeats, Vettori knows he hasn’t been operating at the top of his game, and he admitted that he has looked like “(expletive)” in his last batch of fights.

“I cannot watch myself. I look like (expletive). I was so (expletive) pissed, I cannot watch it. It’s funny, also my last fight I pulled out for the same opponent because I broke my rib, and one of the guys that was there to help me, he forced me to watch my last fight. I struggled so bad to watch until the end because I’m looking (expletive), I’m so (expletive) bad. I couldn’t throw a cross without falling down. I was stiff. It was not myself at all. I was timid, I looked like (expletive). I see like, my last last four fights—leave the (Jared) Cannonier alone because it’s alright, he had a good game plan and he kind of surprised me—but then the last three fights, I feel like I handed out wins to my opponents, really,” Vettori said.

Vettori is the underdog against Naurdiev this weekend in what is undoubtedly a must-win fight for the long-time UFC middleweight veteran.

If he wins, then Vettori will have the monkey off his back finally, and he can start preparing to get back on another winning streak.

But should he lose this fight, it would mark five straight defeats inside the Octagon, and the odds of him getting cut would go up significantly, making this truly a must-win fight for him.

This article was originally published on HEAVY

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