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 who 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. All right? 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?
“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 were in need of fighters with a reputation, and my name was well-known in Ukraine due to my success in grappling competitions,”
Dolidze, now 36, will be headlining the UFC APEX event this Saturday. This will be his second UFC main event, with his first being against middleweight contender Nassourdine Imavov in February 2024. With a UFC record of 8-3 and recent wins against Anthony Smith and Kevin Holland, he currently holds the No. 12 spot in the official UFC rankings. After climbing the ranks quickly, he hit a roadblock when he faced Marvin Vettori at UFC 286, a fight that ended in a controversial decision.
So controversial, in fact, that the UFC has decided to have a rematch. This time, Italy’s Vettori is standing in the way of Dolidze’s climb towards the top five in the middleweight division, a position he was approaching in 2023 after securing four consecutive victories.
“I was eager for this fight, but I didn’t anticipate the UFC offering it to me,” he explains. “I firmly believe I won the first bout. Nevertheless, I was pleasantly surprised when they mentioned his name, and I was thrilled when he agreed to fight me. Now, I have the chance to address all the unresolved questions we have.”
The main question at hand: Is Dolidze a legitimate contender? Can he follow in the footsteps of his compatriot, UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili, and bring another title back to Georgia? Or did he enter MMA too late to make a serious title run?
“After this fight, I believe I will face someone from the top five,” he asserts. “The top five is currently a competitive field with numerous deserving contenders awaiting their title shot. Nonetheless, I will face someone who is already in line for their title shot. I will seize their position and become the next challenger. That’s the plan.”
But first, he must focus on the rematch with Vettori. This time around, the Batumi native won’t be swinging for the fences. He vows to be more strategic in his approach.
“I believe I fought with too much emotion last time,” he reflects. “I was looking to knock him out with every punch. Now, I have a better understanding of what needs to be done. He caught me off guard last time by not pressing forward. In all his previous fights, he has been the aggressor. However, against me, he held back and circled around, which caught me by surprise. I am now prepared for whatever he brings to the table.”