Jack Hermansson gives his prediction for Israel Adesanya vs Marvin Vettori 2 at UFC 263
With the much-anticipated middleweight rematch between Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori rapidly approaching, their fellow 185lb contender Jack Hermansson has weighed in on who he believes will come out on top.
Hermansson is an experienced middleweight and has faced many fighters in the division's top 15, including Vettori. He learned first hand how durable and tenacious the 'Italian Dream' can be. However, he has not let that influence his prediction for this fight.
Hermansson leaning towards the 'The Last Stylebender'
Speaking with Sportskeeda MMA's Frank Bonada, Hermansson revealed that he gives a slight edge to the current champion, stating that:
'You've got to have Adesanya as the favorite because he's undefeated at middleweight. But I can see things turn around, especially if it get's to the later rounds. Because I do believe that Vettori's going to have some problems at the beginning with the distance and the accuracy of Adesanya. It's going to be hard."
However, no doubt speaking from personal experience, Hermansson is aware that Vettori has a chance at getting the victory. Hermansson points to the fact that Vettori began to have success towards the later rounds in the first fight.
But Vettori's very durable. He can take some punches and he has extremely good conditioning. So he will keep on, push the pace, go forward. And in the last fight it was in the third round where Vettori started to take over. If he can do the same in this fight and it's a five rounder, I can see him winning the third and fourth and fifth round and he can get a decision. That's also a possible outcome.
Despite the fact that Vettori undeniably has a chance in this matchup, Hermansson is ultimately leaning towards Adesanya.
"But I do have Adesanya as the favorite."
Hermansson has his sights set on two middleweights
Hermansson recently picked up an impressive win over rising prospect Edmen Shahbazyan, pushing him up to sixth in the middleweight rankings. He is now looking to face off against a top-five ranked opponent, with two names in particular appealing to the Swedish fighter.
"Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa, those are my two number one picks after the champ."
Hermansson is confident his elite grappling and submission skills will make him a threat to either man.
"That shit works on everybody. There's not a man in the world that can be under me and be comfortable" said Hermansson