Marvin Vettori isn't an opponent that Roman Dolidze is particularly concerned about. Ahead of their UFC Vegas 104 rematch this weekend, the Georgian middleweight spoke to reporters during media day. Despite being a grappler by trade, Dolidze believes in his striking against Vettori.
That is in large part to Dolidze's confidence in his punching power. While he doesn't boast a large number of knockouts that a dedicated power-puncher does, Dolidze has opined that he should be regarded as such and that his path to victory relies on his composure:
"I have power. He knows, everybody knows I'm powerful. Everybody knows my ground game and grappling. That's why it's always hard to find keys with me. But I still think that I need to be more calm and control my anger, and that's the key to win this fight."
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Check out Roman Dolidze's thoughts on facing Marvin Vettori (27:22):
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Both men are on different career trajectories. Dolidze is currently on a two-fight win streak, having beaten former light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith at UFC 303 and Kevin Holland at UFC 307.
He beat Smith via unanimous decision, while his fight with Holland ended with a corner stoppage after the American suffered a rib injury in round one, leading to a TKO win.
Meanwhile, Vettori is 1-2 in his last three fights, and is coming off a unanimous decision loss to the heavy-handed Jared Cannonier. His last win, interestingly, was over Dolidze.
Roman Dolidze lost to Marvin Vettori in their first fight
At UFC 286, Roman Dolidze and Marvin Vettori crossed swords at middleweight on the main card opener. While the matchup was competitive, Vettori defeated Dolidze via unanimous decision.
After the loss, Dolidze suffered a second consecutive defeat, tasting defeat via majority decision to Nassourdine Imavov. The Frenchman was also deducted a point in round four after landing an illegal soccer kick on the grounded Dolidze.
