London is quickly rising to the ranks as one of the signature locations for UFC events alongside venues like Vegas, NYC, and Dubai. With fighters like Leon Edwards, Paddy Pimblet, and Muhammad Mokaev expected to be participating, UFC 286 was already a stacked PPV. The announcement of the Marvin Vettori vs Roman Dolidze bout has now made the card even better.
First BIG matchup coming to London!
đŽđš @MarvinVettori vs @RomanDolidzeUFC đŹđŞ is signed for #UFC286
đď¸ https://t.co/gZU04L5obD pic.twitter.com/h1AyQ1yLC1
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) January 6, 2023
Both these fighters have been fighting the toughest challengers in the middleweight division. It was only a matter of time before the two giants collided if they managed to stay on a consistent trajectory. Now UFC has taken notice of the fan demands and put together a wonderful matchup that can have massive implications for the UFC rankings.
How the Marvin Vettori vs Roman Dolidze matchup came to be.
Marvin first fought Israel Adesanya at a UFC Fight Night event in 2018. The Italian lost that fight by unanimous decision and would not return to the Octagon until July 2019. He seemed to have put some work into sharpening his skillset as he went on a 5-fight win streak against fighters like Jack ‘The Joker’ Hermansson and Kevil Holland.
It was July 2021 and ‘The Italian Dream’ was ready to face Adesanya again but this time the fight was for the middleweight belt. Vettori again lost by decision and this time Israel looked quite dominant. Marvin would pick up another victory against Paulo Costa but would fall short against former champion Robert Whittaker.
Roman Dolidze on the other hand, faced his only defeat under the UFC so far at the hand of Trevin Giles back in 2021. After that setback, the Georgian came back stronger within only 3 months and secured a 4 fight win streak. ‘The Caucasian’ was now hungry for the big names of the middleweight division and Marvin was coming off a loss, so the fight was made.
Winning this fight can potentially take Marvin back to the title picture and Roman can get his opportunity to penetrate the top 5 spots in the middleweight rankings.
UFC 286 is scheduled for March 18, 2023.
