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The only minor blemish on Israel Adesanya's record as he marched to claim the UFC middleweight championship was an April 2018 split decision win against Marvin Vettori. Vettori has been one of Adesanya's most vocal critics since the defeat, and after four consecutive wins, he hopes a victory over Kevin Holland will put him in position for a rematch with the championship on the line.

Vettori has had to struggle through issues outside of his control, with fighters missing weight or pulling out of bouts, but the Italian has declared that he is the No. 1 contender by default, simply for "being there" while other top fighters in the division are not.

Even Adesanya took time away from the division, trying to move to light heavyweight to capture a world title in a second weight class. Adesanya came up short, losing a decision to 205-pound champion Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259. For Vettori, Adesanya's loss just proved what he has been saying since their first fight.

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"I think it proved all the things I already knew," Vettori told Morning Kombat. "Second, it's not that you can put him with Anderson Silva who defended the title 10 times and went up to light heavy. I don't think he should have went up to light heavy, but he did and he lost. Jan did a very good job, especially defensively. He just showed that Adesanya's game and his way of fighting, he's not a complete fighter. He's really not a complete fighter. People describe him as, like, I don't know. I believe he's overhyped. Even though he's the champion, I believe he's overhyped. He has been the champion, but Anderson Silva and guys like that are a different breed. I can't wait to just redo it and re-run it. It's going to be a whole different fight and I can't f---ing wait. 

"This guy won't even mention my name. He'll throw hints at me doing shit like this, trying to get me mad. And he doesn't even say my name, he says 'the Italian guy.'"

Vettori believes that, in addition to Adesanya being an incomplete fighter, his own skills have grown significantly since the first fight.

During his four-fight winning streak, Vettori has shown an increased level of aggression and believes that his style presents too many problems for Adesanya to deal with.

"I'm just better everywhere. I'm a five-times better version of myself from when we fought. He would not be able to deal with everything I bring to the table. I want to outstrike the guy. If I want to, I can grind him until he spits his lungs."