Takedowns and takedown defense could play a big role in UFC 263 main event.
Here are some facts. Marvin Vettori set a UFC middleweight record with 11 takedowns in his last outing. In Israel Adesanya’s most recent bout, Jan Blachowicz took down the middleweight champ three times and accumulated 7:06 of control time.
With no other information to go on, it would not be crazy to assume Vettori should be able to score takedowns against Adesanya when the two meet in the main event of UFC 263, which takes place at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
Here are more facts. Blachowicz and Adesanya fought at light heavyweight. Blachowicz has a height and reach advantage over Vettori. Holland’s takedown defense is 47 percent. Adesanya has stopped 82 percent of the takedowns attempted against him. Derek Brunson took Holland down six times in the fight before he faced Vettori. In his nine UFC middleweight fights, Adesanya’s opponents took him down seven times. Before he faced Blachowicz, Adesanya was taken down once in six fights. In the first meeting between Adesanya and Vettori, Vettori scored two takedowns on six attempts. Adesanya won that fight by split decision.
In short, wrestling might determine UFC 263’s main event, but the outcome of Blachowicz vs. Adesanya and Vettori vs. Holland should not be given too much weight heading into this matchup.
Below take a look at where Adesanya and Vettori appear in the UFC record book ahead of UFC 263.
UFC 263 takes place on June 12 at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona. The main card streams on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+ and early prelims on ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass.