UFC Vegas 85 Preview (Dolidze vs. Imavov)
The UFC is heading back to the Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday February 3 for UFC on ESPN 93. The main event will be a battle between middleweight contenders #8 Roman Dolidze and #11 Nassourdine Imavov.
Dolidze is trying to rebound from a unanimous decision loss to former title challenger Marvin Vettori at UFC 286 in March. Prior to the loss he was on a four-fight win streak with three straight KO’s. He is 6-2 in the UFC and is looking to break into the top five of the division with an impressive win on Saturday.
The Georgian fighter does night like to dig too deep into the rankings and make predictions. “If you remember how Sean (Strickland) got his title shot, he fought Nassourdine after he fought some guy outside the top 15, and he got a title shot,” said Dolidze. “That’s why I don’t like to make predictions and conversations like this. It will be what it will be. I’m ready for anything. That’s all.”
Dolidze continued, “In this organization, the rankings nowadays don’t do nothing. Look at Khamzat (Chimaev). Why is he in the top 15? Who did he fight? Why does he need to be here? Also, how they move some guys up and down. That’s why I don’t think rankings show anything. There is organization UFC, and UFC will decide what they want to see and what fights will sell more or less, and that’s more important, probably.”
The 35-year-old is focused on defeating Imavov. “What do you want me to say? Big words and say it’s No. 1 contender fight? No, I’m not that guy,” Dolidze said. “I’m sure there’s going to be somebody here to start talking like that. It’s a good, interesting fight. I think after this fight we can get a top-five opponent – definitely, we deserve. Let’s see what will happen. what happens, no one knows.”
Despite not wanting to think about rankings and #1 contender spots, Dolidze is prime for a top five matchup with a win over Imavov. He does have an impressive win over long-time contender Jack Hermansson, but a win on Saturday sets him up for another high profile fight like the battle he had with Vettori.
Imavov is trying to rebound from a loss to former champion Sean Strickland last January and then a no-contest to contender Chris Curtis in June. The fight with Curtis at UFC 289 was stopped due to an accidental clash of heads which left Curtis unable to continue.
The 28-year-old wants to move on from a bad year. “It’s true that 2023 was a pretty complicated year,” Imavov said. “But I gained a lot of experience and I want it to serve me well on Saturday and show how much better I’ve got during this year. It’s my second main event. Last time it was the first time I did five, five-minute rounds. It was like UFC and life gave me a second chance to shine, so I want to take this chance and shine on Saturday.”
The French Fighter knows big things will come with a win on Saturday. “The ranking is very important for me,” Imavov said. “Once you get into the top 10 or the top five, at any point you can fight for the belt. And the belt is my goal, my main focus. So I want to be there and be able to fight for the belt.”
The loss to Strickland was at light heavyweight but now that Imavov has moved back to middleweight, he can focus on a title run. He has impressive wins over Edmen Shahbazyan and viral fighter Joauquin Buckley, but he faces his toughest test on Saturday. A loss to Dolidze could push him out of the top 15.
The rest of the main card:
Lightweight - #13 Renato Moicano vs. #15 Drew Dober
Welterweight - Randy Brown vs. Muslim Salikhov
Women's Flyweight - Viviane Araújo vs. Natália Silva
Middleweight - Aliaskhab Khizriev vs. Makhmud Muradov
Welterweight - Gilbert Urbina vs. Charles Radtke
ESPN+ Prelims:
Women's Strawweight - Molly McCann vs. Diana Belbiţă
Flyweight - Azat Maksum vs. Charles Johnson
Welterweight - Themba Gorimbo vs. Pete Rodriguez
Featherweight - Lee Jeong-yeong vs. Blake Bilder
Women's Flyweight - Luana Carolina vs. Julija Stoliarenko
Lightweight - Landon Quiñones vs. Marquel Mederos
Heavyweight - Thomas Petersen vs. Jamal Pogues
