Georgian middleweight contender Roman Dolidze set his sights on two of the middleweight division’s former champions after picking up a hard-earned main event victory at UFC Vegas 104.
Dolidze rematched Italian contender Marvin Vettori in the headline bout at the UFC APEX in a rematch of their previous meeting at UFC 286 in London back in 2023.
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Vettori won on the scorecards on that occasion, but Dolidze returned the favor in the rematch as he claimed the unanimous decision victory, with the judges scoring the bout 49-46, 49-46, 49-46.
“First of all, I want to say big thanks to Marvin that he agreed to fight me. I’m very thankful,” he said.
“Second of all, it was a big and important test for me, five rounds, hard, because I’m in (at a) high level.
“I’m in with killers, monsters, I need to be ready for anything that can happen. And this fight was very important to me, first of all, mentally, so I can go five rounds, hard.”
Dolidze lost out to Vettori in London, and felt that he hadn’t paced himself appropriately during their three-round fight in England.
But in their five-round rematch in Las Vegas, Dolidze showed a solid gas tank as he maintained his work rate through the full 25-minute duration to claim an important victory for his career.
“First fight I was going hard just because of my aggression, but now I was ready,” he said.
“I was controlling my aggression, and that’s a very important key with me. I can’t go hard and die in (the) first round, but I can go hard (for) five rounds, and still keep going.”
It gave 12th-ranked Dolidze an important victory in the middleweight division and, with Vettori ranked at No. 8 heading into the bout, the Georgian’s victory should see him break into the top 10.
Now Dolidze wants to take on top five opposition next time out, and had two names ready to call out as he set his sights on former champions Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya.
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“You know, I deserve a top-five fight, 100 percent, and there are two realistic fights for me,” he stated.
“It’s Whitaker, or Adesanya. Let’s go! Just give me a day, that’s all I need. Nothing more.
“And you know, I can fight in five days. Just give me a little bit of time to make weight. That’s all.”
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