The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return to London has its first fight put together, and it is quite a good one.
The UFC’s broadcast partner of ESPN broke the news on Thursday that UFC 286 has gained its first matchup of the billing. At the O2 Arena in London, top-10 middleweights collide as Marvin Vettori (18-6-1) battles it out with Roman Dolidze (12-1). Georgia’s Dolidze has since confirmed this pairing on his Instagram page.
Boisterous Italian Vettori has alternated wins and losses in his last four appearances, albeit against some of the best opposition his weight class has to offer. While he topped Kevin Holland in April 2021 to put him on a five-fight win streak, a title fight and rematch against Israel Adesanya three months later did not go his way, as he dropped a five-round verdict to the then-champ. In a victorious rebounding effort – albeit at 205 pounds when his opponent announced he would not make the middleweight limit – he topped Paulo Costa in a 25-minute scrap. His lone 2022 match came against ex-champion Robert Whittaker, and he dropped a three-round verdict to lead into this new matchup.
While Vettori has potentially hit a ceiling, Dolidze has surged in the last 18 months. Winner of four fights in a row, Dolidze topped Laureano Staropoli in June 2021 for what remains his second career decision victory. His 2022 campaign could scarcely have gone better, as he blitzed Kyle Daukaus in 73 seconds, put Phil Hawes out with punches a few months later and stepped in on short notice to wreck Jack Hermansson in early December -- and all three stoppages earned him "Performance of the Night" checks. The latter triumph, one in which he replaced Derek Brunson on the card, stamped the new Xtreme Couture trainee as an elite middleweight.
There are no other bouts currently booked for UFC 286, which is set to take place at the O2 Arena in London. This event was once rumored to be held in a soccer stadium, but the organization elected to post up in the familiar venue instead. A discussed rematch between welterweight king Leon Edwards and former titleholder Kamaru Usman may play out on this event, but recent reports have suggested an Usman hand injury may scrub that pairing.
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