UFC 263 Live results and analysis: Israel Adesanya vs. Marvin Vettori 2

GLENDALE, Ariz. — UFC 263 headliner Israel Adesanya defends his middleweight title against Marvin Vettori in the main event of Saturday’s stacked card. Adesanya defeated Vettori by split decision in 2018, a close fight that was one of Adesanya’s most difficult en route to the title. Vettori firmly believes he won that bout — and he’s looking to eliminate all doubt with UFC gold on the line.

Adesanya, who will be vying for his third successfull title defense, is ranked No. 3 on ESPN’s pound-for-pound list, and he’s No. 1 at middleweight while Vettori is No. 6 in the division.

Vettori (17-4-1) has won five in a row. The Italy native has not lost since that bout with Adesanya in April 2018. He is attempting to become the first Italian-born fighter to win a UFC title.

In the co-main event, Deiveson Figueiredo defends his flyweight title in a rematch against Brandon Moreno. The two fought to a majority draw at UFC 256 last December in what was one of the best fights of 2020. Figueiredo (20-1-1), 33, and Moreno (18-5-2), 27, are each unbeaten in six straight. If Moreno wins, he’ll be the first Mexican-born fighter to capture UFC gold.

Also on the card, Leon Edwards takes on fan favorite Nate Diaz in a five-round, non-title bout, which could be a welterweight title eliminator. Edwards (18-3, 1 NC), a Jamaican-born England native, is unbeaten in nine straight fights. Diaz (20-12), fighting out of Stockton, California, has not fought since a loss to Jorge Masvidal for the mythical BMF title at UFC 244 in November 2019. He’s looking for his first win since August 2019.

In addition, welterweight veteran Demian Maia meets Belal Muhammad, light heavyweight prospect Jamahal Hill takes on the crafty Paul Craig and Lauren Murphy faces Joanne Calderwood in a potential women’s flyweight title eliminator.

Follow live with Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Jeff Wagenheim or watch the fights on ESPN+ PPV.

Fight in progress:

Women’s bantamweight: Pannie Kianzad (15-5, 3-2 UFC, -200) vs. Alexis Davis (20-10, 7-5 UFC, +170)

Results:

Lightweight: Terrance McKinney (11-3, 1-0 UFC) defeats Matt Frevola (8-3-1, 2-3-1 UFC) by first-round KO

Recap to come.

Men’s featherweight: Steven Peterson (19-9, 3-3 UFC) defeats Chase Hooper (10-2-1, 2-2 UFC) by unanimous decision

The smoothest path to victory for Peterson would have been to keep the fight standing, since his opponent was a highly skilled grappler with a limited striking game. Instead, he spent much of the three rounds on the canvas with Hooper. He spent a significant part of that time delivering damage from the top, but in the end Peterson won by surviving Hooper’s strongest submission try.

Two of the judges gave all three rounds to Peterson, and the other scored the fight 29-28.

Peterson, a 31-year-old from Dallas, did some strong work on the feet but did most of his best work on the canvas, fending off a nonstop flow of Hooper’s submission attempts. Peterson has won two in a row after a two-fight skid.

Hooper, who is 21 and from Enumclaw, Washington, has lost two of his last three fights after starting his career unbeaten in his first 10 fights.

Despite the gritty win, Peterson did not cover himself in glory this weekend. He missed weight by 2½ pounds on Friday and had to surrender 20% of his purse to Hooper. And at the start of Round 3, Peterson feigned a glove touch but instead fired a big overhand right.

This drew a disparaging remark on the broadcast from analyst Paul Felder: “Dirty move, Joe.”

To which Joe Rogan replied, “Kind of what you’d expect from a guy who missed weight.”

Touche.

— Wagenheim

Lightweight: Fares Ziam (12-3, 2-1 UFC) defeats Luigi Vendramini (9-2, 1-2 UFC) by majority decision

Ziam lulled Vendramini to sleep for two rounds with his jab. In the third, Vendramini finally woke up, but it was not enough.

Ziam escaped with a majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28) victory in a bout that featured a wild momentum swing early in the third round. Ziam used his beautiful jab and his reach advantage to keep Vendramini at distance over the first 10 minutes. Vendramini turned it on in the third, landing big combinations on the feet, sending Ziam to the canvas and working for a submission from there.

It wasn’t the amount of dominance that led to a 10-8 from all three judges, though, which would have made it a draw. One judge did score the third 10-8 for Vendramini.

Ziam, 24, has won two straight after dropping his UFC debut in September 2019. The France native has won seven of eight. Vendramini, a 25-year-old Brazil native, has lost two of three in the UFC.

— Raimondi

Watch this fight on ESPN+.

Heavyweight: Carlos Felipe (11-1, 3-1 UFC) defeats Jake Collier (12-6, 4-5 UFC) by split decision

Felipe (11-1) picked up his third win in a row, and had himself a good time doing so.

Felipe, of Brazil, defeated Collier (12-5) via split decision in a three-round slugfest. In a heavyweight fight that never hit the floor, it was Felipe’s superior boxing and head movement that stood out. Two judges scored it 29-28 for Felipe, while a third had it 29-28 for Collier.

A former middleweight, Collier, of Missouri, landed some good shots early on, and caused Felipe’s right eye to swell badly with punches. Collier started to tire in the second round, however, and struggled to deal with Felipe’s pressure. Nevertheless, he did land more overall punches than Felipe, but Felipe’s shots appeared to carry more weight.

Despite the swelling on his eye, Felipe taunted Collier at times, brushing punches off his shoulders and shuffling around the cage.

The victory improves Felipe’s record in the UFC 3-1. Collier is now 1-2 since moving to the heavyweight division last year.

— Okamoto

Watch this fight on ESPN+.

Still to come:

Middleweight title fight: Israel Adesanya (c) (20-1, 9-1 UFC, -260) vs. Marvin Vettori (17-4-1, 8-2-1 UFC, +210)
Flyweight title fight: Deiveson Figueiredo (c) (20-1-1, 9-1-1 UFC, -220) vs. Brandon Moreno (18-5-2, 6-2-2 UFC, +180)
Welterweight (five rounds): Leon Edwards (18-3, 10-2 UFC, -550) vs. Nate Diaz (21-12, 15-10 UFC, +400)
Welterweight: Demian Maia (28-10, 20-9 UFC, +180) vs. Belal Muhammad (28-3 1 NC, 9-3 1 NC UFC, -220)
Light heavyweight: Paul Craig (14-4-1, 6-4-1 UFC, +240) vs. Jamahal Hill (8-0 1NC, 2-0 1 NC,-300)
Lightweight: Drew Dober (23-10 1 NC, 9-6 1 NC UFC, -150) vs. Brad Riddell (9-1, 3-0 UFC, +125)
Light heavyweight: Eryk Anders (13-5 1 NC, 5-5 1 NC UFC, -150) vs. Darren Stewart (12-6 2 NC, 5-5 2 NC UFC, +125)
Women’s flyweight: Lauren Murphy (14-4, 6-4 UFC, +120) vs. Joanne Calderwood (15-5, 7-5 UFC, -140)
Men’s featherweight: Movsar Evloev (14-0, 4-0 UFC, -240) vs. Hakeem Dawodu (12-1-1, 5-1 UFC, +200)
(c) = defending champion

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