UFC 263: ‘Adesanya vs Vettori 2’ | 6th Round Post-Fight Show

Zane Simon & Dayne Fox are here to breakdown this Saturday’s, June 12th, ‘UFC 263: ADESANYA VS. VETTORI 2 & FIGUEIREDO VS. MORENO 2’ PPV event. The guys will have hot takes, possible next fights, as well as reactions to the overall event.

Bloody Elbow fight experts, Zane Simon & Dayne Fox, are here tonight – Saturday, June 12th., 2021, to breakdown the UFC 263: ‘Adesanya vs. Vettori 2’ event, which was broadcast from the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona – with a live full capacity crowd. The guys will have hot takes, possible next fights, as well as reactions to the overall event in the player above, or on our Bloody Elbow Presents YouTube Channel and BE Presents Podcast Network. (SPOILERS...)

The UFC showcased TWO TITLE FIGHTS tonight!

Returning to the octagon for the main event, we had the reigning, defending, UFC Middleweight Champion of the World, the #4 ranked, Israel ‘The Last Stylebender’ Adesanya, entering this title match with a remarkable 20-1 record, widely regarded as one of the best strikers in MMA, coming off a Unanimous Decision loss to Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259. Adesanya was banging it out in this battle for the belt against challenger, power striker Marvin ‘The Italian Dream’ Vettori – for the second time around. Vettori was the #3 ranked Middleweight in the division and entered the bout with his impressive 17-3 record on a five-fight win streak against the likes of Kevin Holland, Jack Hermansson, Karl Roberson, Andrew Sanchez and Cezar Ferreira.

The outcome usually goes right here... but what is there really to say? This was no surprise. “And stillll the undisputed UFC Middleweight Champion of the World”... ‘The Last Stylebender’ – via Unanimous 50-45 Decision. Then Vettori, apparently delusional from all that striking he took, had the nerve to tell the champ he thought he won the fight. Which was laughable. Israel told him, “whatever helps you sleep at night.”

In the co-main event, we had a rematch title fight between UFC Flyweight Champion, ‘Deus Da Guerra’ Deiveson Figueiredo, and his contender, ‘The Assassin Baby’ Brandon Moreno. Figueiredo was coming at this on a five-fight win streak, defeating Alex Perez, Cody Garbrandt, Joseph Benavidez (twice), Tim Elliott, and Alexandre Pantoja, with an astounding 20-1 record. Meanwhile, Moreno, a BJJ & Muay Thai specialist, ranked #1 in the division and on a four-fight win streak over Brandon Royval, Jussier Formiga, Kai Kara-France, and Maikel Pérez, was coming at this bout with an impressive 18-5 record.

‘The Assassin Baby’ lived up to his ranking tonight and came out fighting hard, getting the advantage in every round, ultimately achieving a victory via Rear Naked Choke Submission at 2:26 of round 3. We have a new UFC Flyweight Champion of the World tonight! It’s great to see Moreno’s growth pay off in this dominating defeat over the Champ. He also notably made UFC history tonight, becoming the first ever Mexican born UFC Champion. It was quite an emotional moment for him in the octagon post-fight with Joe.

Also on the card, we had a five-round Welterweight bout between the #3 ranked Leon ‘Rocky’ Edwards, with his 18-3 record, on an eight-fight win streak, having defeated RDA, Gunnar Nelson, Donald Cerrone, Peter Sobotta, Bryan Barberena, Vicente Luque, Albert Tumenov, and Dominic Waters; matched up against the returning Nate ‘The Stockton Slugger’ Diaz, sporting a 20-12 record, who was tied with Joe Lauzon for the second most UFC bonus awards, with 15 in total. However, Diaz had not fought a single bout since losing to Jorge Masvidal over the BMF Title back at UFC 244 back in November, 2019; and it was expected by fight experts that he would have his ass handed to him in this bout.

It was a possibility for awhile there that we would see a doctor stoppage for the gash on Nate’s face, but he made it through the full five rounds, landing one decent shot to wobble Leon in the last few moments; but ultimately the fight concluded with a commanding 49-46 Unanimous Decision victory for ‘Rocky’ tonight.

In addition to that, we had what was anticipated to be a downright fun match-up between Welterweight veteran fighters, Demian Maia (28-10) and Belal ‘Remember the Name’ Muhammad (18-3). Belal had won his last four bouts; but Maia had a damn good chance at taking this victory. It seemed as though it really could go either way. But in the end, Belal took the ‘W’, via a Unanimous Decision victory over Maia.

These bouts were preceded by our featured main card opener between Paul ‘Bearjew’ Craig and Jamahal ‘Sweet Dreams’ Hill, which ended rapidly at 1:59 of the first round due to a wildly flopping dislocated arm suffered by Hill at the hands of the BJJ artist Craig, via a wicked armbar followed up by hammerfists - while waiting for the ref to finally stop the fight. In addition to that, we had an extensive nine-bout undercard, which included a seven-second KO in the first round by Terrance McKinney.

This week the guys’ picks heading into the event were...
Both: Adesanya
Both: Figueiredo
Both: Edwards
Both: Muhammad
Both: Hill

Zane: Riddell, Dayne: Dober
Both: Anders
Zane: Calderwood, Dayne: Murphy
Both: Evloev

Both: Kianzad
Both: Frevola
Zane: Hooper, Dayne: Peterson
Zane: Vendramini, Dayne: Ziam
Both: Felipe

Overall, this 14-bout card saw two exhilarating first round finishes, two astounding submissions (including our Co-Main), one impressive seven-second KO/TKO, and ten hard fought decisions - one split, one majority. Rounding things out, bonuses for putting forth POTN efforts went to Brandon Moreno and Paul Craig; FOTN honors went to Drew Dober vs. Brad Riddell. What a wild night of fights we have to share with you, join us to discuss all the action...

Here’s a look at the UFC 263: ‘ADESANYA VS VETTORI 2’ RESULTS & UPDATED FIGHT RECORDS:

ESPN+ MAIN PPV CARD | SAT. JUNE 12
14. UFC Middleweight Championship: Israel Adesanya (21-1) DEF Marvin Vettori (17-4) – DEC, Unanimous

13. UFC Flyweight Championship: Brandon Moreno (19-5) DEF Deiveson Figueiredo (20-2) – SUB, Rear Naked Choke at 2:26 of Rd 3 of 5, Total 12:26

12. Five Round Bout: Leon Edwards (19-3) DEF Nate Diaz (20-13) – DEC, Unanimous

11. Belal Muhammad (19-3) DEF Demian Maia (28-11) – DEC, Unanimous

10. Paul Craig (15-4) DEF Jamahal Hill (8-1) – SUB, Injury via ARMBAR at 1:59 of Rd 1

ESPN/ESPN+ PRELIMS
9. Brad Riddell (10-1) DEF Drew Dober (23-11) – DEC, Unanimous

8. Eryk Anders (14-5) DEF Darren Stewart (12-7) – DEC, Unanimous

7. Lauren Murphy (15-4) DEF Joanne Calderwood (15-6) – DEC, SPLIT

6. Movsar Evloev (15-0) DEF Hakeem Dawodu (12-2) – DEC, Unanimous

UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+ PRELIMS
5. Pannie Kianzad (15-5) DEF Alexis Davis (20-11) – DEC, Unanimous

4. Terrance McKinney (11-1) DEF Matt Frevola (8-3) – KO/TKO, Left Cross to G&P at 0:07 of Rd 1

3. Steven Peterson (19-9) DEF Chase Hooper (10-2) – DEC, Unanimous

2. Fares Ziam (12-3) DEF Luigi Vendramini (9-2) – DEC, MAJORITY

1. Carlos Felipe (11-1) DEF Jake Collier (12-6) – DEC, SPLIT

Be sure to follow Zane - @TheZaneSimon & Dayne - @TheDayneFox; and follow @BloodyElbow on twitter as well, for all the latest in MMA happenings. Bloody Elbow Presents is a mixed martial arts podcast network presented to you by Bloody Elbow:

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