It was a nightmare on Saturday for “The Italian Dream.”
Marvin Vettori was on the losing end of a competitive five-round battle on Saturday night against Roman Dolidze, with the Georgian taking a unanimous decision result to tie up their rivalry at one fight apiece.
A strong final few minutes from Dolidze paired with success from the early rounds allowed him to walk away with a 49-46 score on all three scorecards at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA this weekend, closing out the promotion’s latest “Fight Night” card.
While winning four out of the five rounds on paper makes the fight look like a wash, it was anything but that for Dolidze. The long-time middleweight contender had to find strong moments early against an active Vettori, survive a mid-fight knockdown, and finish strong to walk away with his win this weekend.
The first and second rounds of the fight were incredibly close, with the 185-pound fighters taking turns charging forward with their flurries of shots. Both were going big with their strikes from the start, trading in any leading jabs or cross punches for much larger overhands and hooks.
While the rounds were close—causing some online to give Vettori one or two frames—the judges saw Dolidze take a 20-18 lead after 10 minutes.
Vettori found his biggest moment of success in the halfway round of the 25-minute clash, significantly wobbling Dolidze with a left cross. The shot put Dolidze on roller skates for more than just a moment, causing him to fall to the canvas briefly. However, he was able to recover and not take any larger shots later in the round.
After battling his toughest moment in the third, Dolidze still had to buckle down and earn at least one more round to overcome Vettori in the judge’s eyes. Dolidze pulled ahead in the fight’s championship rounds in a way not seen earlier in the contest. While prior rounds saw Dolidze sneak by Vettori on scorecards, it was quite easy to see who was landing the better blows in the final 10 minutes.
Dolidze kept charging forward with a variety of shots as Vettori’s output slowed in the fourth: Knees in the clinch, combinations of punches, and even a spinning back elbow landed clean by Dolidze during the five-minute stanza.
Vettori threw more in the final frame, but Dolidze continued to score the cleaner strikes. He continued to find a home for his punches and at one point even snapped back the head of Vettori with a kick.
Dolidze finished the fight strong, but his bloodied face stood as proof that it was not a one-sided battle. Despite the adversity, Dolidze was satisfied with the result afterward.
“This fight was important for me mentally to show I can go fight five rounds hard,” Dolidze said during his post-fight interview. He had previously gone the distance in a main event fight against Nassourdine Imavov, although the past appearance ended in a majority decision loss.
Dolidze avoided further adversity during the fight due to some refereeing choices by Herb Dean. Despite being sternly warned to not point his fingers toward Vettori during striking exchanges, Dolidze accidentally poked the Italian’s eyes early in the fight. Dean used this moment to give Dolidze a second warning instead of deducting a point. Dolidze was reminded once again before the fifth round that he had to keep his fingers away.
Saturday’s main event avenges a 2023 loss Dolidze took to Vettori at UFC 286. Their first meeting, a similarly close battle which primarily took place on the feet, saw Vettori prevail via decision. While the three judges were unanimous in the result, fans certainly weren’t. A poll on MMADecisions.com shows that 57 percent of viewers scored the fight in favor of Dolidze, going against the official result.
The win is expected to move 12th-ranked Dolidze into the middleweight top 10, as Vettori entered the weekend seeded 8th. Dolidze hopes that his latest victory could set him up for a fight against a top-five former champ in the near future.
“I deserve a top-five fight, 100 percent,” Dolidze said on Saturday. “There are two realistic fights for me: [Robert] Whittaker or [Israel] Adesanya. Let’s go, just give me [a] date.”
Vettori was appearing for the first time in nearly two years, as a shoulder injury had kept him on the sidelines for months. His previous appearance dated back to June 2023, when he showcased his toughness in a one-sided loss to Jared Cannonier.
The result on Saturday means that Vettori will go over two years without tasting victory in the UFC cage.
Veteran Chidi Njokuani picked up a finish win in the co-main event of the evening, putting Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos away in the second round with strikes. Here’s a look at the quick results for Saturday’s show, which was quite action-packed:
Main Card (7:00PM EDT / 4:00PM PDT) (ESPN+)
Bout 13: Roman Dolidze def. Marvin Vettori via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 12: Chidi Njokuani def. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 2:19)
Bout 11: Alexander Hernandez def. Kurt Holobaugh via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 10: Da’Mon Blackshear def. Cody Gibson via Submission, Kimura (RD 2, 4:09)
Bout 9: Brendson Ribeiro def. Diyar Nugozhay via Submission, Kimura (RD 2, 1:28)
Bout 8: Kevin Vallejos def. Choi Seung-woo via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 3:09)
Preliminary Card (4:00PM EDT / 1:00PM PDT) (ESPN+)
Bout 7: Waldo Cortes-Acosta def. Ryan Spann via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 4:48)
Bout 6: You Su-young def. AJ Cunningham via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 5: Carlos Vera def. Josias Musasa via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 1, 3:16)
Bout 4: Sam Hughes def. Stephanie Luciano via Decision, Split
Bout 3: Andre Lima def. Daniel Barez via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 3, 3:05)
Bout 2: Priscila Cachoeira def. Josiane Nunes via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 2:46)
Bout 1: Carli Judice def. Yuneisy Duben via TKO, Strikes
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