Roman Dolidze (born July 15, 1988) is a Georgian mixed martial artist currently competing in the

Middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2016, Dolidze was the former World Warriors Fight Championship (WWFC) champion, ADCC Asia & Oceania champion, and Grappling FILA world champion. As of December 6, 2022, he is #8 in the UFC middleweight rankings.

Background

Dolidze was born on July 15, 1988, in Batumi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union (now Georgia). Dolidze played soccer for eight years, the last three years of which spent as a professional goalkeeper. At the age of 20, he moved to Ukraine to study, and started training in sambo,

Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

and eventually grappling. He went on to become the World Grappling Champion and the European Grappling Champion under United World Wrestling rules, as well as becoming the ADCC Asia & Oceania Champion at 99 kg (218 pounds) in 2016. This earned him a spot in the prestigious ADCC Worlds Tournament in 2017, however he was defeated in the first round. At age of 28, he started to train in MMA.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Dolidze made his MMA debut in 2016, where he fighting out of Odessa, Ukraine. After winning his debut fight against Alexander Kovbel, Dolidze would go on to amass a 4-0 record in the Ukrainian circuit, before being given the chance to fight Eder de Souza for the vacant WWFC Light Heavyweight title. He beat de Souza by a second-round knockout. He was scheduled to defend his title against Michał Pasternak at WWFC 13. Dolidze beat Pasternak by a third-round knockout.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Dolidze got signed to the UFC but before he made his debut, he tested positive for

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and its metabolites M1 and M2, as well as a long-term metabolite of dehydrochlormethyltestosterone (DHCMT), 4-chloro-18-nor-17β-hydroxymethyl,17α-methyl-5α-androst-13-en-3α-ol (M3), as the result of an out-of-competition urine sample collected on March 12, 2019. He was suspended for one year due to this violation and he was eligible to fight in March 12, 2020. On September 3, 2020, Dolidze along with

Ryan Benoit Ryan Michale Benoit (born August 25, 1989) is an American mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a fu ...

, were granted temporary licenses following special hearings by the Nevada State Athletic Commission after they had recurring issues with the long-term metabolite of Turinabol pulsing in their system in trace amounts, long after ingestion. Both Benoit and Dolidze have already been suspended by United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), the UFC's anti-doping partner. Neither were facing a violation in Nevada, but the UFC wanted to get ahead of a potential issue. This was after USADA added a threshold for the presence of the M3 metabolite of DHCMT. If a test result is below 100 picograms per milliliter of the substance, it is no longer considered a violation, but an atypical finding, providing there is no evidence of new ingestion or performance-enhancing effects. Benoit and Dolidze were granted temporary licenses to compete beginning Dec. 1 following a six-month period of bimonthly testing by USADA. A bout between

Khadis Ibragimov Khadis Ibragimov (born May 21, 1995) is a Russian mixed martial artist and sambo practitioner. A professional competitor since 2017, he has also formerly competed for Ultimate Fighting Championship and M-1 Global where he was the Light heavyweig ...

and Roman Dolidze was initially scheduled for the promotion's inaugural event in Kazakhstan planned a month prior. However, the fight was postponed after the card was moved to Las Vegas due to travel restrictions for both participants related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pairing was left intact and eventually took place on July 19, 2020 at UFC Fight Night: Figueiredo vs. Benavidez 2. Dolidze won the fight via technical knockout in round one after in process of high kick, Ibragimov tried to go for a takedown, during which Dolidze hit him with a knee, knocking Ibragimov out. Dolidze faced John Allan at UFC on ESPN: Hermansson vs. Vettori on December 5, 2020. He won the bout via split decision; however 19 out of 19 media members scored it a 30-27 for Dolidze. Dolidze, as a replacement for Dricus du Plessis, faced Trevin Giles in his middleweight debut on March 20, 2021 at UFC on ESPN 21 He lost the close bout via unanimous decision. Dolidze was scheduled to face Alessio Di Chirico on June 5, 2021 at UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Sakai. However, Di Chirico pulled out of the contest in mid-May due to an injury. Di Chirico was replaced by Laureano Staropoli. In a lackluster fight where Dolidze mostly held Staropoli in the clinch, he won the fight via unanimous decision. Dolidze was scheduled to face Eryk Anders on November 13, 2021 at UFC Fight Night 197. However, Anders was pulled the event for undisclosed reasons, and he was replaced by Kyle Daukaus. In turn, the bout was scrapped due to COVID-19 protocols related to Dolidze’s camp. Dolidze was scheduled to face Brendan Allen, replacing Brad Tavares on December 4, 2021 at UFC on ESPN 31. However, Dolidze was forced to pull from the bout due to complications in his recovery from COVID-19 and he was replaced by

Chris Curtis Chris Curtis (born Christopher Crummey; 26 August 1941 – 28 February 2005) was an English drummer and singer who was best known for being with the 1960s Beat music, beat band The Searchers (band), The Searchers. He originated the concept be ...

. Dolidze was rescheduled to face Kyle Daukaus on June 18, 2022 at UFC on ESPN 37. He won the bout via knockout in round one. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award. Dolidze faced Phil Hawes on October 29, 2022, at UFC Fight Night 213. He won the fight via knockout in round one. Dolidze, replacing undisclosed injury Derek Brunson, faced Jack Hermansson on December 3, 2022, at UFC on ESPN 42. He won the bout via ground and pound TKO in the second round. Dolidze is scheduled to face Marvin Vettori on March 18, 2023 at UFC 286.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

*World Warriors Fight Championship ** WWFC Light Heavyweight Championship ***One successful title defense * Ultimate Fighting Championship ** Performance of the Night (One time)

Grappling

* ADCC Asia & Oceania Champion **2016 ADCC Asia trials (99 kg) * Grappling World Champion FILA

Mixed martial arts record

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dolidze, Roman 1988 births Living people Male mixed martial artists from Georgia (country) Sambo practitioners from Georgia (country) Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners from Georgia (country) Sportspeople from Batumi Light heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing sambo Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Ukraine