Roman Dolidze, the late bloomer who became UFC's unlikeliest contender, ready to make good on second chance

Oct 5, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Roman Dolidze (red gloves) reacts after defeating Kevin Holland (not pictured) during UFC 307 at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images — Roman Dolidze competes in his second UFC main event with Saturday's rematch against Marvin Vettori. (Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images)

There’s a fellow from Batumi, the second largest city in the country of Georgia, who has a master’s degree in management and economy. He owns several properties, including a quaint little grocery store called the Green Wood Market, just down from the Holy Christ the Savior Church on the Black Sea. He is a gentle soul by all accounts, friendly to the passersby and a proud member of his Georgian community. With a mother who’s a doctor and a father who works as an engineer, he comes from an accomplished family, and he was lucky enough to inherit an athletic gene.

In fact, Roman Dolidze was an accomplished soccer player, who spent three years as a goalkeeper on a professional team in Turkey.

“Let's say correct, football,” he says. “When you are playing real football, you [have to] depend on how your team will play, especially when you are goalkeeper like I was. But here, everything’s in your hands. Win or lose, it's everything up on you. And that works much better for me than anything else.”

The “here” he’s talking about is fighting. About a decade ago Dolidze segued into the art of punching faces and ransacking human properties. Somewhere along the way he caught wind of a sport in which the competitors were the sole masters of their own fate, in total control of the chaos they themselves created. It was Fedor Emelianenko that first caught his attention, fighting monsters in the PRIDE FC ring in Japan. Dolidze watched intently as Fedor — who was the picture of cathedral calm before and after a fight, yet hell unleashed in between — took care of his business.

The Great Emperor became the spark.

“After football, I [went] for education to Ukraine,” Dolidze says. “And all my life I was in sport, and I still wanted to do something. And on YouTube, I saw the PRIDE competition fights. I didn’t even know back then that it doesn’t exist anymore. I was still watching it [thinking it was current].

"Fedor was [the] biggest star probably back then and I saw that he was doing combat sambo. Alright? And that, I was interested in. 'What is this?' And I go do sambo training ... I didn’t like much what was going on in class [so] I started grappling. And after a couple years, when I was 27 or 28, and I started doing MMA.”

That was back in 2016, the year Dolidze had his first pro fight at the age of 28. To put that into context, by the time he was 28 years old, Max Holloway had already been in 29 pro fights, including eight title fights and a sustained run as the UFC’s featherweight champion. Dolidze got off to a very late start, yet he made up ground quickly, fighting a half-dozen times in two years in the Ukraine.

“The funniest part, I never thought that I would be fighting,” he says. “I was doing grappling, and I was winning everything when I was doing World Champion Europe, Champion ADCC Asia, and a lot of interesting and good competitions. And I always was watching MMA through this. I was thinking, ‘These guys hit each other — I don't like this kind of sport. I will never do this. I’m good in grappling, I will always grapple.’

“But one organization came to Ukraine called WWFC [World Warriors FC], and I fought there [for] six fights. After four fights they already offer me fifth fight for title. And they bring very good opponents always. Like my fifth opponent [Eder de Souza], he had, if I remember correctly, a record of 12-3, 15 fights. And I had only four fights and no amateur career. That’s no amateur — directly, bro. And I won this fight. I knocked this guy out.”

And after that?

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 18: (L-R) Roman Dolidze of Georgia battles Marvin Vettori of Italy in a middleweight fight during the UFC 286 event at The O2 Arena on March 18, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) — Roman Dolidze learned lessons from his 2023 loss to Marvin Vettori. (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

“And after that they bring me another good guy, Polish guy [Michal Pasternak],” he says. “He had also like 16 or something fights, and I also knock him out with a backfist. After this, UFC program saw me somehow and they offer me a contract. I signed directly with the UFC after two years of fighting. They needed guys with a name, and I had good name in Ukraine because of so many grappling competitions.”

Dolidze, who’s now 36 years old, fights on Saturday in a main event at the UFC APEX. It’s his second-ever UFC main event, the first coming against middleweight contender Nassourdine Imavov in February 2024. He has posted a record of 8-3 in the UFC and — with back-to-back victories over Anthony Smith and Kevin Holland — is currently ranked No. 12 in the promotion's official rankings. At one point he was moving up the rungs at a breakneck pace, only to be derailed by Marvin Vettori at UFC 286, in what was a debatable decision.

So debatable, in fact, that the UFC is running it back. Italy’s Vettori is all that stands in the way of Dolidze making headway toward the top five of the middleweight division, which is where he was headed in 2023 after piecing together four straight wins to make some waves.

“This is a fight that I wanted, but this is a fight that I didn't expect that UFC will offer,” he says. “I definitely think I won the first fight. But I didn’t expect that UFC will offer me him. And I was very glad when I heard his name, and I was very glad that he also agreed to fight. Now I have [the] opportunity to give answers to all [the] questions we [still] have.”

The main question: Is Dolidze a true contender? Can he be like his fellow countryman, UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili, and bring another title back to Georgia? Or did he come to MMA a little too late to make a serious run at a belt?

“I think after this fight, I will get somebody from top five,” he says. “And top five is very messy now — messy in a good way. It’s a lot of guys who are waiting [for] their title shot and they deserve it. But anyway, I will get somebody from there who [are] already waiting their title shot. I will just take their spot and I will be the next contender. That’s all.”

First thing’s first, though, the rematch with Vettori. This time the fellow from Batumi won’t be trying to knock the Italian's head off his shoulders. He promises to be more discerning in how he delegates his power.

“I think I fought with anger with him last time,” he says. “With every punch, I was trying to knock him out. Every punch. Now I understand more what I need to do. And he also surprised me last time because he didn't go forward at all. All his fights, he always goes forward. But with me, he was stepping back and moving around but not going forward, and I didn't expect that. Now I’m ready for anything what he can offer."

12h ago

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