"His striking is still not that great" - Kevin Holland predicts who wins in the rematch between Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori
Kevin Holland has made his prediction for the rematch between Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori at UFC 263. According to Holland, Adesanya will successfully defend his middleweight title as his elite striking game will be a massive advantage over Vettori.
Kevin Holland lauded Adesanya's takedown defense and predicted that it won't be easy for Marvin Vettori to take the UFC middleweight champion to the mat. 'Trailblazer' also claimed that Vettori is yet to excel in the striking department despite having an outstanding striking coach.
Picking Israel Adesanya as the winner, Kevin Holland told Helen Yee in a recent interview-
"I think they hump each other. They definitely both die. No, I'm just playing, I'm just playing (laughs). I think 'Izzy' (Israel Adesanya) wins man. I don't think 'Izzy' is easy to takedown as I was. And Marvin (Vettori), he told me I need to work on my wrestling defense once. Like he has a really good striking coach over there and his striking's still not that great."
Kevin Holland has some advice for Marvin Vettori
Kevin Holland faced Marvin Vettori in a 21-day turnaround between UFC main events, tying the record with Deiveson Figueiredo (UFC 255 and UFC 256) for the shortest span in company history. Marvin Vettori dominated Kevin Holland on the ground, landing a divisional record of 11 takedowns to earn a unanimous decision victory with all three scorecards reading 50-44. While Vettori has advised Holland to work on his wrestling, 'Trailblazer' had a few words of advice for Vettori ahead of his title shot. Asking Vettori to work on his "slow" hands, Kevin Holland said:
"So, he needs to do some soul searching in the striking department, maybe go to Thailand or something like that. But if he is gonna fight 'Izzy' I don't think he should have taken such a quick fight. Definitely needs to work on some of his striking like he said I need to work on my wrestling. But it's like, you can hardly hit a man with one eye. So it's like you really, really, really gotta work on your hands cause you are kind of slow."
Marvin Vettori faces Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title in the main event of UFC 263 on June 12, 2021.