Marvin Vettori came off second best in his UFC Fight Night 209 co-main event battle will fellow middleweight top contender Robert Whittaker in Paris on Saturday night, but the loss doesn’t appear to have dented the former title challenger’s belief that he will one day become a champion.
“Starting from Mezzocorona and getting to the MMA world summit didn’t happen overnight,” Vettori wrote on Instagram. “Against all odds and working steadily through these years, many have become passionate and inspired by my journey, where my determination has always prevailed. For this, I thank you from first to last. What you’ve seen so far is not the top of the mountain. We will climb back to conquer higher peaks. It’s a promise.
“This game ain’t for the faint of heart. We got big shoulders, and we don’t quit. There is just one way, and that is forward. I promise everyone I’ll be back better than ever. Hat’s off to Whittaker, good execution and good adjustments. Nothing’s changed, we are gonna be champion one day. I promise you that.”
The loss to Whittaker was his second defeat in his last past three fights, having also lost out on the scorecards to current champion Israel Adesanya in June of last year.
However, looking through a wider lens, ‘The Italian Dream’ has gone 6-2 over the past three years, including earning big wins over the likes of Paulo Costa, Kevin Holland and Jack Hermansson, and given that he’s still only 28-years-old, he is likely to be a threat in the 185lb division for some time to come.
