Middleweight will collide as Marvin Vettori makes his UFC return against Roman Dolidze at UFC 286 in London. UFC announced earlier this month that the promotion will head to the O2 Arena for a numbered event, with Leon Edwards vs Kamaru Usman 3 being targeted for the main event. While there’s no confirmation regarding the headliner, UFC has started to book the rest of the card, and the latest addition looks promising.
#4 ranked Marvin Vettori will take on rising prospect and #8 ranked Roman Dolidze at UFC 286. Dolidze is coming off an impressive TKO win over Jack Hermansson earlier this month at Thompson vs Holland. Needless to say, the announcement has come rather quickly, and Dolidze will have less than three months to prepare for the Italian fighter. However, it goes without saying, with huge risk comes great reward.
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Should Dolidze emerge vicariously against Vettori, he would find himself in the top 5 of the UFC’s middleweight division and not too far from a potential title opportunity. Meanwhile, Vettori will look to jump back to the winning column after a one-sided beating against Robert Whittaker at Fight Night: Gane vs Tuivasa. Vettori’s last win came against Paulo Costa in the light-heavyweight division.
When is UFC 286, London?
UFC will return to the UK for the first time in six years with a numbered event. In recent years, post-COVID, the promotion has gone to the UK on several occasions, including a show in France. UFC 286 will take place on 18 March, inside the O2 Arena. “Everyone knows how much I love our fans in the UK. We had two incredible shows in London in 2022, and this time we’re bringing a world title fight with the biggest and baddest card we could put together at The O2 on March 18.” Dana White said after the announcement.
We 🇬🇧Are 🇬🇧Back!
The @UFC Returns to The O2 Arena in London March 18 for #UFC286!
Get All The Details Here: https://t.co/yVa5dThZuU
Register Your Interest Here: https://t.co/gqwZxMVus0 pic.twitter.com/jqvccGXs1S
— UFC News (@UFCNews) December 7, 2022
Chances are, Leon Edwards vs Kamaru Usman will headline UFC 286. However, it is being reported that Usman might not be fit to compete by the time UFC 286 goes down owing to a hand injury. Stephen Thompson expressed his views on the entire incident and expressed how the promotion could be possibly looking at Leon Edwards vs Jorde Masvidal for the UFC Welterweight Championship.
It goes without saying, in the coming weeks, we will see more fights add to the card as Dana White and the UFC look to build the “biggest and baddest” card come March 18.