Former title challenger Marvin Vettori returns to action this weekend; almost two whole years since his last fight inside the UFC octagon.
The popular Italian middleweight faces former foe Roman Dolidze in the main event of UFC Vegas 104 on Saturday evening, 20 months after his decision loss to Jared Cannonier.
The reason for Marvin Vettori’s extended absence from the UFC octagon was two-fold; first, opting to sideline himself for personal progress, before being forced to sit out on the bleachers.
Marvin Vettori explains UFC absence stretching back to Summer 2023
Speaking via the UFC News crew earlier this week, the popular European standout revealed that he’d initially opted to take some time away from the sport to focus on himself.
“I’m feeling good, it’s good to be back doing what I love – and back to normality, finally. I’m used to just ‘live, train, fight’ and the last one was more than a year ago, so it’s good to be back.
“I really thought that after my last fight, that I had to take some time [off] and figure out a few things like a different gym and stuff, so the first 10-11 months was because I wanted to take them off and then the injury happened.”
Only a few weeks before his scheduled return to action against Brendan Allen in March 2024, Vettori suffered a ‘freak accident’ in training – the specific nature of that injury remains unclear.
“I accepted it, it’s part of the game; and you really have to accept it because that’s how you grow,” continued ‘The Italian Dream’, before noting that the entire sport has ‘changed completely’ since his last bout.
Marvin Vettori says MMA has ‘changed completely’ since his last UFC fight
From Israel Adesanya to Sean Strickland, to Dricus Du Plessis; the middleweight division has seen its fair share of changes since the last time that Marvin Vettori stepped inside the octagon.
In fact, ‘The Italian Dream’ believes that the whole MMA game has been dramatically altered since his last appearance and that his old fight style no longer has a place in the sport.
“Now, grapplers can strike, and strikers can take you down… The game’s evolved a lot, and everybody is a lot more complete in mixing it up more – and we’ve seen it, the middleweight division has completely changed.
“You have to have great fundamentals, but now you have to also explore other stuff too. You have to be on top of your game… Being tough and being strong, being b— to the wall like how I used to be, I believe it doesn’t work anymore… And I’ve realized that.”
With new-found motivation, Vettori isn’t just looking to get himself back in the win column this weekend at UFC Vegas 104 – he’s also looking at a quick jump back into title contention.
“This puts me back in talks and then we’ll see, I don’t overthink this, but [victory] will put me back in the [title] talks for sure… The moment you break into the Top 15 you’re only two or three good performances away… I believe that it’s my time now.”
UFC Vegas 104: Vettori vs Dolidze goes down live from The Apex on Saturday, March 15.