Marvin Vettori backtracks on callout of Paulo Costa, makes case for title shot instead

UFC middleweight Marvin Vettori backtracked on his callout of Paulo Costa, shifting his target to UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.

Vettori picked up a unanimous decision win over Jack Hermansson in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Vegas 16 event. It was the biggest win of Vettori’s UFC career over the No. 4 ranked fighter in the promotion in Hermansson. It’s the kind of win that will land Vettori a big fish in the pond his next time out, and the Italian wasted no time calling out two of the top fighters in the division: top contender Costa and UFC champion Adesanya.

Speaking to the media following UFC Vegas 16, Vettori first said that he wants to fight Costa next, but then he quickly changed his target and said he wants Adesanya next.

Marvin Vettori said though he called out Paulo Costa, f*** Paulo bc he just came off a “crazy loss” and eyes the title shot #UFCVegas16 pic.twitter.com/hlTlTfvGkN

— Helen Yee (@HelenYeeSports) December 6, 2020

“You know, to be honest with you, before I called out Borrachinha, but f*ck Borrachinha. He just came out of a crazy loss, so why would I even fight him? I want to go straight for the title, man. To be honest, I’ll be really honest, I like the fight. I feel like the top fighters give no opposition. There’s no opposition. (Jared) Cannonier just lost, Darren Till is I don’t know. I don’t think he’s even top-five. Borrachinha just lost brutally. (Robert) Whittaker wants to enjoy Christmas with his kids, and I don’t blame him, but it doesn’t really seem like he wants to fight for the title,” Vettori said.

Beating Hermansson is a big win for Vettori on his resume and it should land him a top-five opponent in his next fight. With Adesanya moving up to 205lbs to fight Jan Blachowicz in his next fight in 2021, Vettori will likely have to get at least one more win in the meantime over a top-five opponent in order to prove he should be next in line.

Who do you want to see Marvin Vettori fight next?