Marvin Vettori’s confidence hasn’t been shaken by his UFC-on-ESPN-46 main event loss to Jared Cannonier.
Vettori (19-7-1 MMA, 9-5-1 UFC) was clearly beaten by a unanimous decision in last Saturday’s headlining middleweight tournament at the UFC Apex. He had a solid first round but then took heaps of penalties from Cannonier (17-6 MMA, 10-6 UFC), who set a new single fight record for most significant hits in a 185lb bout.
Despite losing, Vettori was never dropped and at no point seemed anxious to find a way out of the fight. His initial post-fight comments reflect this, with Vettori releasing a brief statement on Monday noting that the result only motivated him to push harder (via Instagram):
A lion remains a lion.
The spirit was never broken.
I’ll come back stronger, I promise you.
#theitaliandream
Vettori, 29, has lost 3-2 in his last five fights after the UFC on ESPN 46. His losses during that period went to Cannonier, former UFC champion Robert Whittaker and current division champion Israel Adesanya.
The Italian has notable wins over Jack Hermansson, Paul Costa and Roman Dolidze in recent years.
For more information on the card, visit the MMA Junkie for UFC event hub on ESPN 46.
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