UFC 286 marks the first time that UFC is traveling to England in 2023. The main event is set to have the English fighter and welterweight champ Leon Edwards, defending his title for the first time against Kamaru Usman. However, the main card is set to kick off with a middleweight showdown between Marvin Vettori and Roman Dolidze.
Marvin Vettori is coming off a loss against the former middleweight champ Robert Whittaker. Following his loss to Israel Adesanya in 2018, he put on a winning streak of 5 fights and earned a title shot at UFC 263. However, the fight was against Israel Adesanya once again and Marvin lost the rematch as well. Although he won against Paulo Costa, Vettori lost to Whittaker at UFC Paris.
Marvin Vettori will fight Roman Dolidze at #UFC286 on March 18th. (first rep. @bokamotoESPN) #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN #UFC2023 #UFCLondon pic.twitter.com/ZXSbJvrtcT
— Marcel Dorff 🇳🇱🇮🇩 (@BigMarcel24) December 15, 2022
Roman Dolidze, on the other hand, is currently on a winning streak of 4 fights and won his last bout against Jack Hermansson. Considering the fact that Hermansson is a well-respected fighter, it is definitely impressive that Dolidze managed to knock him out in the second round. However, Marvin Vettori is going to be the toughest opponent of his career. So who wins? Let’s look at all the stats and find out!
UFC 286: Marvin Vettori vs Roman Dolidze, Stats
| Stats | Marvin Vettori | Roman Dolidze |
|---|---|---|
| Wins | 18 | 12 |
| Losses | 6 | 1 |
| Height | 1.83 m | 1.88 m |
| Division | Middleweight | Middleweight |
| Reach | 188 cm | 193 m |
| Age | 29 | 34 |
Vettori vs Dolidze: Fight Breakdown
Marvin Vettori has a career record of 18-6. However, the Italian fighter has a UFC record of 8 wins, 4 losses, and 1 draw. However, as previously mentioned, Vettori has 2 losses to the former champ Israel Adesanya, who is a striker. On top of that, the Robert Whittaker fight showed that Marvin needs to work on his striking and ability to take elite fighters down without getting caught by counterstrikes.
Roman Dolidze has accumulated a career record of 12-1. The Georgian fighter made his UFC debut against Khadis Ibragimov in 2020. Since then, he has lost only one fight in the company against Trevin Giles via a unanimous decision in March 2021.
He currently has a UFC record of 6 wins and only 1 loss. Roman currently occupies the 9th rank in the middleweight, while Vettori is in 4th. If Roman manages to win, it will put him in firm contention for a title shot in the very near future.
As per UFC stats, Dolidze has a takedown average of 2.12 per fight and attempts 2.1 submissions per fight. In terms of striking, Roman averages 2.62 strikes and absorbs 2.06 strikes per minute. But Roman has 7 KO wins in his career and 3 submissions. So his striking stats in the Octagon do not paint an accurate picture of his abilities. Fans already know how good of a grappler Roman is, but his striking is underrated too.
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Marvin Vettori, on the other hand, is a very active fighter in the Octagon. He has 2 KO wins and 7 submissions. He is currently averaging 4.20 strikes per minute while absorbing 3.58 strikes. On top of that, “The Italian Dream” has 1.89 takedowns per fight with an accuracy of 44%.
However, in the UFC so far, he has only 2 finishes and both came via submission. So Marvin’s finishing rate in the company is quite low. In comparison, Roman Dolidze has 4 KO finishes and all came via KOs. Although it may seem like a shock to some, Roman seems to be the favorite for the PPV fight this weekend.
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