UFC on FOX 29 live blog: Israel Adesanya vs. Marvin Vettori

This is the UFC on FOX 29 live blog for Israel Adesanya vs. Marvin Vettori, a middleweight bout at Saturday night’s UFC event at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz.

Adesanya, a standout kickboxer with a 12-0 professional MMA record, faces Vettori, who is unbeaten in his last two UFC appearances, on the main card.

Check out the UFC on FOX 29 live blog below.

Round 1: The third man in the cage for this bout is Herb Dean. No glove tap. Vettori with some fast hands to start, but Adesanya is showing good head movement. Adesanya probing with a jab, pawing at Vettori. They clinch and Vettori works for an inside trip, but can’t get it. Vettori scoring with leg kicks. Question mark kick by Adesanya is blocked. Adesanya using a lot of feints and also getting on the board with leg kicks. Adesanya catches a high kick and lands a punch to the body. An eye poke to Vettori causes a pause in the action. Adesanya working the body, Vettori not backing down and he responds with a body kick. Adesanya avoids a Vettori flurry and scores with a straight right.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9, Adesanya.

Round 2: Vettori with a couple of straight lefts to open the second frame. Adesanya blocks a double leg attempt and Vettorit’s attempts to trip him. Outside leg kick is working for Adesanya. He uses it to set up a 1-2 combo. Vettori with another straight left. Adesanya tagging Vettori with punches whenever Vettori advances too aggressively. He keeps leaning back to avoid Vettori’s high kicks. Adesanya stays elusive and pops Vettori with a counter right. Good kick to the body by Vettori. Standing elbow by Adesanya cracks Vettori. Vettori throws up the double birds and they briefly brawl. The jab of Adesnya is landing consistently. He shrugs off another Vettori takedown. It’s Adesanya coming forward now. He partially lands a high spin kick, but Vettori is okay. Vettori continues to come forward, but his hardest shots aren’t connecting.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9, Adesanya. Overall 20-18, Adesanya.

Round 3: Vettori not slowing down, he’s scoring with punches, he just can’t land anything substantial. Adesanya keeps halting his advances with that jab. Vettori deep on a single leg and he gets Adesanya down. Vettori working from half guard. Adesanya pushing against the fence, he’s tying Vettori up and gets him back into full guard. Back to the fence, Adesanya is able to get back up. However, Vettori drops him back down. No control this time and Adesanya is back on the feet with Vettori maintaining a body lock. Vettori with another takedown. They’re back up and Dean resets them in the middle of the cage. Left hand lands for Adesanya. Vettori scores with a 1-2 combo. He’s standing right in there with Adesanya, but neither guy can put an exclamation point on the fight.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9, Vettori. Overall 29-28, Adesanya.

Official result: Israel Adesanya def. Marvin Vettori via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)