Marvin Vettori doesn’t think Paulo Costa is better anywhere than him.
In the main event of UFC Vegas 41 on Saturday, Vettori and Costa are both looking to return to the win column after losing title fights to Israel Adesanya in their last fight. It’s an intriguing matchup and many expected the lead-up to be filled with trash talk but that hasn’t happened. For the Italian, he says that will wait until fight week when he gets to see Costa.
“I feel like we’ve been pretty quiet for the buildup to the fight. We’ll see how fight week (goes),” Vettori told MMA Junkie. “I don’t like the guy necessarily. He’s not a guy that I would get along with as a friend. He talked a bunch of sh*t before, here and there. But personally, I don’t know him. He never did anything to me too much that is personal. With that being said, I don’t need anything personal to beat somebody unconscious. I don’t need anything personal, especially to (deal with) the problem in the cage.
“I see it as, like, (my opponents) all have a part of what I want, regardless. Whoever gets in there is trying to stop me from getting what I want, so I don’t need to be mad to just mess up somebody’s face,” Vettori concluded.
Although Marvin Vettori and Paulo Costa haven’t been trash-talking one another, when the two step inside the Octagon on Saturday, the Italian plans to show there are levels to this game. He believes he is better everywhere and thinks he will eventually find the KO punch.
“He’s good in some areas of the striking,” Vettori said. “He definitely has a pop in his punch, and he definitely can crack. But I feel like, in general, as an MMA fighter, I’m superior. Even as a striker, I’m superior. I’m gonna give the fans what they want. I want to knock this guy out, loud and clear. My mind is ready, my body is ready, and my spirit is ready, and I’m just ready to go.”
