The UFC will return to action this weekend for the first time since UFC 297 with UFC Fight Night: Dolidze vs. Imavov on Feb. 3, 2024. The Fight Night event will take place at its traditional venue, the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas.
The main card will be headlined by a middleweight clash between Roman Dolidze and Nassourdine Imavov. Both ranked fighters – Dolidze at No.8 and Imavov at No.11 – are placed in the extremely competitive middle ground of the middleweight division. A strong win could firmly cement their position amongst the top 10 of the division.
The co-main event will feature ranked lightweights No.13 Renato Moicano and No.15 Drew Dober. Moicano returns to action after a year off and will look to break into the top 10 of the division.
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The middleweight division will be represented again by Aliaskhab Khizriev and Makhmud Muradov. Welterweights Randy Brown and Muslim Salikhov will also square off on the night.
Brazilian flyweights Viviane Araujo and Natalia Silva will fight in the only women's match on the main card.
The main card will begin at 7 pm Eastern Time or 12 am United Kingdom time on Feb. 4. Indian MMA fans can tune in for the main card at 5:30 am on Feb. 4.
Roman Dolidze discusses his headliner against Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Vegas 85
Roman Dolidze enjoyed a great start to life in the UFC by winning six of his first seven fights.
However, Dolidze lost his only fight last year against Marvin Vettori via unanimous decision, marking his second loss at the promotion. In a recent interview ahead of his fight against Imavov, Dolidze mentioned his goalkeeping background as a boon to his MMA ability.
“He jokes that is why I am good with chokes, guillotines and grappling. I am always motivated. Nothing changes in my mindset. I am always ready and prepared. I like to keep in shape." [h/t Philstar]
He went on to discuss the intricacies of the fight:
"How you use space is always an advantage. But on the other hand, it can be a disadvantage because if you need to back off, the space is smaller. It is about executing your game plan and taking advantage of mistakes. You may be winning on the scorecards or in the statistics, but one lucky punch and it changes everything. All I can say is this will be a tough match." [h/t Philstar]