The UFC’s middleweight division has changed drastically since the first time Marvin Vettori and Roman Dolidze fought against one another two years ago in London, England.
At the time Vettori and Dolidze met at UFC 286, Alex Pereira was the division’s champion. “Poatan” had taken the belt from Israel Adesanya, who won it back from Pereira at UFC 287, and the title has since changed hands three more times.
Adesanya lost it to Strickland who lost it to current champ Dricus Du Plessis, who has earned subsequent title defences over both Strickland and Adesanya.
Vettori and Dolidze have both been mainstays in the 185-pound contender rankings for several years at this point, yet they haven’t been directly involved in any of the aforementioned title chaos over the past couple years.
Their rematch is set to headline Saturday’s UFC Fight Night event in Las Vegas and if the eventual winner gets their hand raised in impressive fashion then it could set up another key contenders bout later in 2025.
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Middleweight contenders Marvin Vettori and Roman Dolidze meet in a rematch two years in the making when action returns to the UFC Apex this weekend. Watch UFC Fight Night action on Saturday, March 15 on Sportsnet 360 and Sportsnet+ with coverage beginning at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT.
The first meeting was a three-round matchup that took place in March 2023 that Vettori won via unanimous decision. It was primarily a striking matchup with Italy’s Vettori out-landing Georgia’s Dolidze in all three rounds and 106-71 overall during the 15-minute scrap.
The rematch is scheduled for five rounds atop a 13-fight UFC Apex card.
Vettori, who previously fell short in a 2021 title opportunity with Adesanya via unanimous decision, followed up his win over Dolidze with a five-round unanimous decision loss to Jared Cannonier three months later in a Fight Night main event that earned him a Fight of the Night bonus.
The 31-year-old Vettori has not competed since then and will be competing Saturday for the first time since undergoing shoulder surgery. He was scheduled to face Brendan Allen in April 2024 but withdrew from the matchup due to injury. Vettori, despite his inactivity, is still ranked No. 8 at 185 pounds.
Dolidze, 36, is coming off back-to-back victories over Anthony Smith at UFC 303 and Kevin Holland at UFC 307 in the second half of 2024.
The No. 12 middleweight contender’s win over Smith took place in the 205-pound division, while Holland is more of a natural welterweight who often fights up a division, so Vettori will be the first natural middleweight Dolidze has faced since a majority decision loss to Nassourdine Imavov roughly 12 months ago.
Dolidze’s competitive loss to Imavov has aged well considering Imavov has since continued his hot streak with wins over Cannonier, Allen plus a February technical knockout of Adesanya.
A three-round welterweight contest between touted strikers Chidi Njokuani and Elizeu Zaleksi dos Santos will serve as the penultimate bout.
Below is the projected bout order for UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Dolidze 2…
MAIN CARD
— Marvin Vettori vs. Roman Dolidze
— Chidi Njokuani vs. Elizeu Zaleksi
— Alexander Hernandez vs. Kurt Holobaugh
— Cody Gibson vs. Da’Mon Blackshear
— Brendson Ribeiro vs. Diyar Nurgozhay
— Seung-woo Choi vs. Kevin Vallejos
PRELIMINARY CARD
— Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Ryan Spann
— You Su-young vs. AJ Cunningham
— Carlos Vera vs. Josias Musasa
— Sam Hughes vs. Stephanie Luciano
— Daniel Barez vs. Andre Lima
— Josiane Nunes vs. Priscila Cachoeira
— Carli Judice vs. Yuneisy Duben
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