Marvin Vettori Is Happy With Having An Entire Country Behind Him

In an interview with MMA Junkie, Marvin Vettori (11-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) spoke about his UFC 202 win against Alberto Uda (9-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC). Here are highlights:

On representing Italy: “It’s awesome. You have to let this good energy (take you) toward where you want to be, and not feel like it’s pressure. But just like good energy, to pump you, to get you in the right mindset once you step in. That’s how it was. I’m happy to have a whole country behind me. It’s good when you train, you do stuff, when you put work into it and people recognize it, that’s what it’s all about. It was hard in the beginning, when you were working in the shadows every day in and out of the gym, and no one cares what you do. But now I’m honored to show it. “

On who inspired him: “Who brought me to this sport was Fedor (Emelianenko). He was the first guy who brought me into this sport. I fell in love with the old PRIDE – (Quinton) Rampage, (Mirko) Cro Cop, Fedor, Mauricio (Shogun). Those were the guys who brought me into the sport. But then, obviously, right after that I found out the only Italian in the UFC was Alessio Sakara.”