Marvin Vettori had to fight cautiously on the feet against Roman Dolidze tonight at UFC 286 in London to ensure he emerged with a unanimous decision victory.
Round One:
Two low kicks straight away from Vettori. A third now lands to the outside of the calf. Now he goes to the inside of the leg.
Outside leg kick for Vettori and a grazing right hand. Now Dolidze comes forward landing punches and a big knee to the body for good measure and Vettori felt that and goes into defensive mode for a moment, then grins at Dolidze.
Vettori lands a nice punch. Body kick for him now. Dolidze thinks about a kick but then bails out of it. One-two for Vettori.
Inside and outside leg kicks from Vettori. Reaching punch lands for Dolidze. Vettori lands. Back to the leg kick for him. Inside leg kick for Dolidze now. Vettori lands the jab.
Both men look to flurry in close and it’s Vettori’s hook that lands. Back to the leg kick for him. There’s a clash of heads that forces a brief stoppage and it was Vettori who took the brunt of it as he ducked into his opponents skull. HE wipes at his face, but he’s ok to continue soon after.
They go straight back to striking range. Dolidze is starting to fire off overhands now. One grazes the target. Dolidze is backed up against the cage as Dolidze hurls another one that lands. Vettori ducking and diving to avoid more big blows here while trying to land a few of his own and survives the storm.
Dolidze continuing to be aggressive in the final moments of the round and then Vettori fires back with a head kick attempt that doesn’t land.
Round Two:
Vettori goes back to the calf kick to start the second round. He lands it several times. Another connects. Dolidze goes for a big overhand and Vettori evades it.
More leg kicks for Vettori to the inside and outside of the leg. Dolidze launches the overhand and it comes off the guard.
Counter punch for Vettori. Leg kick for him as Dolidze lands a punch. Another leg kick for Vettori and soon after one for Dolidze.
Jab lands for Vettori now. Missed overhand from Dolidze. Jab for Vettori. Inside leg kick from him. Dolidze throwing everything into a couple of overhands but not finding the mark.
Now Dolidze changes things up by going for a single-leg, but Vettori stays upright and goes back to striking range.
Uppercut attempt from Dolidze as Vettori was ducking. Knee to the body for Dolidze. Vettori pumps out the jab and lands a leg kick.
Head kick attempt from Vettori is blocked. Dolidze with a right hand. Vettori lands a nice left hand. Final few seconds and he’s backing up, then lands again with the straight left cleanly.
Round Three:
Straight back to the leg kick for Vettori. Front kick to the body from Dolidze. Vettori with a body kick in response.
Dolidze looking to back Vettori up, but not picking up his offensive volume and so Vettori starts chipping away with the leg kicks again.
Now Dolidze pressures forward throwing an overhand and a knee, but not quite finding the mark. Vettori sticking to the leg kick gameplan and popping out the jab too.
Jab for Dolidze now. Head kick attempt from Vettori is blocked. Punch lands for Dolidze. Inside leg kick from Vettori. Winging punch from Dolidze lands.
Leg kick for Vettori and then resets his position with two minutes left. Back to the inside leg kick and Dolidze smiles at him.
Right hand getting through for Dolidze. Big looping right hand from Dolidze doesn’t really pay off and Vettori lands a body kick.
Vettori continuing to pepper the lead leg with kicks and doing his best to avoid these occasional overhand rights from Dolidze.
Dolidze attempts a takedown, but nothing doing. Dolidze avoids a leg kick. Dolidze hurls another overhand and misses. Final few seconds and Dolidze is continuing to try to land that right hand, while Vettori goes for a final counter punch.
Decision:
Dolidze’s overhand right looked dangerous when it landed during the fight and certainly earned his opponent’s respect, but his low output overall hurt his chances here as Vettori carefully navigated his way through the fight landing frequently with leg kicks while working the jab and occasional straight left to secure a unanimous decision victory (29-28 x2, 30-27).
