Fil-Am boxing trainer Julian Chua confident of Marvin Vettori UFC win

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino-American boxing trainer Julian Chua is expecting a win by Marvin Vettori this UFC Fight Night: Costa vs. Vettori on Sunday, October 24.

Chua, a former American Golden Gloves champion, works at Freddie Roach’s legendary Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood and has trained world boxing and mixed martial arts fighters, is on his fifth fight training Vettori, the Italian MMA fighter.

Under Chua’s tutelage, Vettori is 4-1 (17-5-1 overall and 7-3-1 in the UFC). 

“Marvin’s developed into a kind of guy that can beat anybody,” said Chua during an online interview with Philstar.com from their base in Las Vegas. “I truly believe that and we will prove it this Saturday night (Sunday morning in the Philippines).”

“People say a lot of things,” Chua added, referring to Israel Adesanya’s pre-fight prediction of Paulo Costa knocking out Vettori. “People say things because they don’t like one another. Emotions are a volatile thing and they can say what they want. I, on the other hand, am confident that we stick to our game plan and Marvin will come out on top.”

Chua isn‘t the only Filipino-American Vettori has trained with. He has previously trained with Mark Munoz, who also fought in the UFC. 

“I always had a good time training with Mark,” offered Vettori. “But it has been a while since I worked out with him. Right now, it’s Julian Chua.”

“Training camp has been good,” Vettori added in Vettori. “I am in a really good place mentally and physically and am ready to go. We’re just waiting for the weigh-in and we’ll put on a show for the fans and show the world.”

Vettori is coming off a unanimous decision loss this past June 12 to UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya while Costa is coming off a TKO loss also from the latter albeit back in 2020. 

During Vettori’s bout with Adesanya, the Italian looked good in the first round. He was able to take him down but the New Zealander’s takedown defense was on full display that night as he peppered the Italian with jabs and leg kicks to take the fight. It was their second meeting with the first match a split decision also in favor of Adesanya.

“Overall, I focus on myself and do not make calculations with what he (Adesanya) did with who,” pointed out Vettori. “I am focused on my fight with Costa and I believe I am a better fighter than him. I want to finish this fight and give the fans a win. I know everything will fall into place and I know I will eventually be the champion. But for now, I need to be completely focused on Saturday night.”

UFC Fight Night Costa vs Vettori will be shown on Premier Sports and Tap Go at 4 a.m. on Sunday. The main card fights begin at 7 a.m.