Marvin Vettori is not making any excuses for his loss to Roman Dolidze in the UFC Vegas 104 main event.
After a 21-month layoff, the former UFC title challenger returned to action and went head-to-head with Dolidze over five rounds in a rematch following Vettori’s victory in their first encounter back in 2023. This time, Dolidze outperformed Vettori in the striking exchanges and ultimately secured a unanimous decision victory with all three judges scoring the fight 49-46 in his favor.
Vettori later took to Instagram Stories to share his thoughts on the fight.
“Nothing too serious, just some cuts and bruises,” Vettori stated. “Man, sometimes life shows you that even when you give it your all, you can still come up short. It was a close fight. I almost had him in the third round but I guess it wasn’t enough.”
Although there were no knockdowns during the fight, Vettori did land a significant blow when he connected with a straight punch in the third round that staggered Dolidze. Vettori tried to capitalize on the moment, but Dolidze managed to recover by attempting a takedown and avoiding further damage. From that point on, Dolidze increased his output and landed more strikes for the remainder of the fight, leading to his victory.
The outcome was not what Vettori had hoped for, especially after moving to Florida to train exclusively with the coaches and fighters at American Top Team. He commended the team in his post-fight statement, but Vettori is struggling to come to terms with this latest setback, which has left him with a 1-3 record in his last four fights.
“I don’t even know what to say,” Vettori expressed. “Thank you to American Top Team. The best in the world… thank you UFC. What else can I say? I’m at a loss.”
At 31 years old, Vettori still has plenty of fight left in him, but he now faces the challenge of bouncing back from the most difficult stretch of his career.