"It's easy to say but a lot harder to do" - Eugene Bareman details why Marvin Vettori couldn't control Israel Adesanya like Jan Blachowicz

Israel Adesanya & Eugene Bareman (left) and UFC 263: Israel Adesanya vs Marvin Vettori (right) [Image credits: @stylebender on Instagram]

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya's coach Eugene Bareman has revealed why Marvin Vettori was not as successful as Jan Blachowicz in taking 'The Last Stylebender' to the ground.

Speaking to Combat TV, the City Kickboxing coach shared details about why Vettori's grappling did not work against Adesanya.

"Israel [Adesanya] is tremendously hard to keep on the ground for anybody. You can't discredit some of the subletties and the small things that Jan [Blachowicz] did to keep him down. Of course, I can't take away that Jan was a lot bigger than [Marvin] Vettori...Jan Blachowicz is a very good fighter. He's the light heavyweight champion of the world, undefeated for a very long time and beat Israel. At the end of the day...Marvin Vettori was not even close to Jan Blachowicz level of skill. So, it's easy to say that but a lot harder to do...Jan is not Marvin Vettori, he's much more well versed on the ground," Eugene Bareman said.

Israel Adesanya fought Marvin Vettori for his third title defense in the main event of UFC 263. The fight was a rematch after their first encounter ended with a controversial split decision victory for 'The Last Stylebender.' However, Adesanya dominated the rematch and cruised to a unanimous decision victory over the Italian fighter.

Adesanya will most likely fight former champion Robert Whittaker for his fourth title defense. Meanwhile, the UFC is planning to book a middleweight showdown between Marvin Vettori and Paulo Costa. Although nothing has been finalized, the fight is expected to be a five-round main event scheduled for October 23.

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Israel Adesanya wants to fight Robert Whittaker in New Zealand

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After his dominant win over Marvin Vettori at UFC 263, Israel Adesanya called out former 185-pound champion Robert Whittaker for a rematch in Auckland, New Zealand.

"I don't know what will happen with all this COVID s**t, but if he wants to run that back, we will do it in Auckland - my territory. Do you know why? Because I'm the mother f***ing king of this place."

The two fighters previously faced off at UFC 243 in Melbourne, Australia. 'The Last Stylebender' made easy work of Whittaker and finished him in the second round of the fight.