"This guy keeps getting positions out of nowhere without fighting, but now I get to fight him and prove it, and I get to prove that I'm the best."
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. – Marvin Vettori expects the world to take notice of just how talented he is when he meets Darren Till in the UFC on ABC 2 headliner.
Vettori (16-4-1 MMA, 6-2-1 UFC) will get his second UFC main event opportunity on April 10 against Till (18-3-1 MMA, 6-3-1 UFC) in a key matchup for the middleweight division. The fight takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and airs on ABC following prelims on ESPN.
Not only will the fight serve as a potential title eliminator, but the promotion is marketing the bout between Italy’s Vettori and England’s Till as deciding the “best middleweight in Europe.” Vettori said he likes that, and he intends to hold serve with an eye-opening performance.
“I’m already the best middleweight in Europe,” Vettori told MMA Junkie during an interview at Kings MMA. “This guy keeps getting positions out of nowhere without fighting. But now I get to fight him and prove it, and I get to prove that I’m the best again. I think even watching the fights last Saturday (with Derek Brunson vs. Kevin Holland), I’m on a different level, and I’m going to show it and fight for the title. I’m mentally, physically and technically on a different level. I’ve heard him say, ‘He’s going to use strength, and I’m going to use technique.’ I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, you’re talking about technique? You’ve probably been skipping grappling for the past 10 years, and you’re talking about technique because your punch looks kind of clean?'”
Vettori, who is riding a four-fight winning streak, said he’s going into UFC on ABC 2 with the utmost confidence. He beat Jack Hermansson in a short-notice main event in December to set up this fight, and that came after a turbulent lead-up where he had opponent changes, date changes and moved from a three-round to a five-round fight.
The upcoming fight with Till has been set in stone for months, which has allowed Vettori to focus on a specific task. He said that will do wonders for his performance, because now he’s gone through the experience.
“I’m so glad I went through that fight and had such a great opponent in Jack Hermansson,” Vettori said. “I remember the first thing I said to him after the fight was, ‘Today we both got better.’ I’m very glad I was the winner, and I’m sure he got better too. Once you go that far and dig that deep in a fight, you definitely find out more about yourself. You learn things you might know about yourself, but you never got to experience and do. No matter how much you know about yourself, to do them is different. It’s great. I feel like mentally I’m in a good spot and in general with the build up to a fight, I can do it pretty good, and I can recognize when my mindset shifts and I can bring it back.”
Although Vettori respects Till, he has some doubts about him, too. Till has fought just twice at middleweight, winning a split decision over Kelvin Gastelum and losing a unanimous decision to Robert Whittaker. He still finds himself ranked above Vettori in the UFC’s official rankings, though, and Vettori feels snubbed by that.
Marvin Vettori will enter his matchup with Darren Till on a four-fight winning streak. (Photo by Chris Unger, Zuffa LLC)
In Vettori’s mind, Till has been overhyped given his actual body of work. He knows his upcoming foe is talented, he said, but also arguably gets propped too much by fans and media.
“I can see the level of the skills and a lot of people on the outside, they don’t,” Vettori said. “They jump on the hype train. Media loves to jump on hype trains. But you can’t trick me. I’ve been here for a while now. I know the level of these guys when I see them. I can see the technique they’re pulling off in their fights. The winner of a fight can be determined from so many things. Sometimes technique can be taken over by something else, but I can tell. I definitely can tell some of these guys are good. They’re still giving him so much hype then at one point they just crumble and they get exposed. But I’m over thinking about what people think – about me, about my opponent. I do me, the media do them, the people do them.”
If Vettori can get the win over Till, he said there’s no doubt he should get the next title shot. Champion Israel Adesanya holds a split decision win over Vettori from April 2018, and Vettori has made it well known he’s coming for the rematch.
Adesanya has said multiple times that he’s looking at Till as his next opponent if he wins, but Vettori has different plans.
“I think (the title shot is) going to happen in 2021, for sure,” Vettori said. “My next fight has to be a statement. I have to go out there and put a really dominant performance because that’s what’s going to make sure that nobody takes away my next title shot. I’m not going to go out just trying to steal the rounds and edge a 49-48. That’s definitely not the game plan. I’m going to go out and show that I’m on a different level. I’m not scared of saying it and putting the pressure on me to prove I can do it. I know it. I’m ready, and I’m going to show it.”
