Marvin Vettori Says He's Fighting For Late Brother Patrick In Return To Octagon

Marvin Vettori's heading into his fight with Brendan Allen with a heavy heart, but also extra motivation ... the Italian fighter is returning to the Octagon for the first time since the tragic loss of his little bro.

"I'm fighting for my brother," 31-year-old Vettori told TMZ Sports. "For everybody that was very close to him. For my family."

Patrick Vettori tragically died on April 14, 2025, in a house fire in Mezzocorona, Italy ... which devastated the star MMA fighter.

In fact, Marvin admits things were so difficult, he considered retiring from fighting after the family tragedy.

"Yeah, I did [consider retiring], I did," Vettori said. "It's just, what the f*** am I gonna do with my life if I don't fight? It's just a whole lot of misery kind of s***."

Marvin says he ultimately realized Patrick wouldn't have wanted him to stop, so he's pressing forward, and he's doing it for his brother.

"Obviously, perspective changes on a lot of stuff. You realize what's really important. At the end of the day, you gotta do something with your life that gives you purpose to wake up in the morning, if not, it's a miserable life, man."

In addition to personal tragedy, Vettori has also dealt with injuries as the 10th-ranked middleweight fighter looks to get back to his winning ways at UFC 318 on July 19, a fight card headlined by Max Holloway vs. Dustin Poirier.

Looking to spoil Marvin's return to the Octagon is his opponent and rival, Brendan Allen ... who we also talked to about the scrap.

29-year-old Allen, ranked 12th, admits he doesn't like Vettori ... and says he's looking to put a hurtin' on Marvin.