Marvin Vettori’s biggest hater might be Marvin Vettori.
The one-time UFC middleweight title challenger fights Ismail Naurdiev on Saturday at UFC 332 in Salt Lake City with the goal of snapping a career-worst four-fight losing streak. Vettori has not scored a win since defeating Roman Dolidze in March 2023, and solving his in-cage woes has meant reviewing his recent performances, something he is loathe to do.
“I cannot watch myself,” Vettori told MMA Fighting’s José Youngs. “I look like shit. I was so f*cking pissed, I cannot watch it. It’s funny, also my last fight I pulled out for the same opponent because I broke my rib, and one of the guys that was there to help me, he forced me to watch my last fight. I struggled so bad to watch until the end because I’m looking shit, I’m so f*cking bad. I couldn’t throw a cross without falling down. I was stiff. It was not myself at all. I was timid, I looked like shit. I see like, my last last four fights—leave the [Jared] Cannonier alone because it’s alright, he had a good game plan and he kind of surprised me—but then the last three fights, I feel like I handed out wins to my opponents, really.
“A lot of shit happened, you’ve got to roll with it, so I prepare for fights because I needed a reason to just go forward. But yeah, when I look at my last few fights, I looked like shit, so I look forward to showing another version of myself.”
Vettori remains impossible to finish and he’s earned Fight of the Night bonuses in two of his past four losses, but at the end of the day the result has been the same: another loss on Vettori’s record. Most recently, Vettori dropped a unanimous decision to Brunno Ferreira at UFC 323 in December.
His first appearance of 2026 was supposed to take place in June against Naurdiev, but a rib injury forced the bout to be postponed. As soon as Vettori was available to be booked again, he asked that the Naurdiev fight be put back on the calendar.
“I asked right away when I felt good,” Vettori said. “It has nothing to do with the opponents. I broke my rib, my back was bad, I had surgery on my back. It wasn’t super invasive, but it took away a hernia, so I was in a bad spot before the last fight scheduled before this one.
“So I never pulled out of a fight, but I had to pull out of that one. So the opponent was good with me even before, so I was like, let’s just re-book it if he’s free.”
Ahead of Saturday, Vettori re-located from Florida to California to train, and he expects the change to pay off as he looks to regain the form that once had him as a top contender at 185 pounds. Should he get back on track, “The Italian Dream” still aims to become UFC champion.
“It’s a long shot, for sure, but I still believe in myself,” Vettori said. “I’ve grown a lot and I take it fight by fight, I don’t look too far ahead, but for sure that’s the goal. I wouldn’t be doing this if I wouldn’t believe that I can still do it.”
