Adesanya to defend title vs. Vettori at UFC 263
A middleweight title bout between champion Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori is set for UFC 263, the promotion announced Saturday.
The fight will headline the pay-per-view event on June 12. The event's venue hasn't been announced.
Vettori obtained the title shot over former champion and first-ranked middleweight fighter Robert Whittaker due to his willingness to fight in June. Whittaker eyed a showdown with Adesanya around September.
"It's looking like (Robert) Whittaker, who just fought on Saturday night, isn't going to be ready to fight Israel Adesanya at the time that Israel wants to fight," UFC president Dana White said during an appearance on "The Bill Simmons Podcast" earlier this week.
Whittaker will face the winner of Adesanya-Vettori, White told ESPN's Brett Okamoto.
Vettori and Whittaker are both coming off victories that took place one week apart. Vettori dominated Kevin Holland on April 10, while Whittaker topped Kelvin Gastelum on April 17. Vettori is riding a five-fight win streak and is ranked No. 3 among middleweight contenders.
Adesanya moved up to the light heavyweight division to take on defending champ Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259 in March but lost by unanimous decision. "The Last Stylebender" has defended his middleweight belt twice since finishing Whittaker and becoming the champion in 2019.
Vettori and Adesanya met in April 2018 before either were top contenders in the UFC. The reigning champ won by split decision.