Karl Roberson will be looking to put together a three-fight win streak in the UFC, when he takes on Italy’s Marvin Vettori at UFC Jacksonville on Wednesday.
It’s a fight that, like so many others of late, has been cobbled together from the remnants of other bouts. Roberson was supposed to fight Makhmud Muradov at UFC 249 — when it was set for April 18 in Brooklyn. Vettori, meanwhile, was part of the fallen UFC London card.
The opponent and date changes, however, don’t concern Roberson, he told Cageside Press at the UFC Jacksonville virtual media day. “It doesn’t really complicate things at all,” he said. “We come here with one mission, and one mission only. To break our opponent, no matter who they put in front of me. We’re here to make a statement at all times.”
While the empty arena environment will be new ground for some, for Roberson, it’s a bit of a homecoming. “I already had a taste of that in the Contender Series fight. So this is home for me. I got into the UFC this way, and I’m going to make another exciting fight the same way.”
In training camp, meanwhile, “I kept things fairly normal,” he said. “I kept things super small, super tight, super clean.”
“Everybody I needed came through,” he later added. “Shout out to them.”
Opponent Vettori might be best remembered for his fight with Israel Adesanya a couple of years ago. That fight has aged a lot better than most losses, given the heights Adesanya has reached the past couple of years. But asked if Vettori was underrated or overrated, Roberson replied that “I don’t really care if he’s overrated or underrated. I think he’s my opponent, and my only goal is to finish him, and make it exciting.”
One twist: Tuesday morning, Roberson missed weight for his bout with Vettori by 1.5lbs. The fight, however, looks set to proceed.
