The UFC’s middleweight division was in the spotlight all throughout January and it culminated with Dricus Du Plessis taking the title from Sean Strickland in the sport’s most prominent fight of 2024 thus far. The 185-pound weight class is now wide open and it will remain front and centre for the first half of February with the next two events headlined by pivotal matchups where a future title challenger could emerge.
Roman Dolidze and Nassourdine Imavov meet Saturday in a five-round UFC Fight Night main event at the UFC Apex with the winner looking to move closer to the top five and insert themselves into the fluid title conversation.
Both fighters are aiming to get back in the win column after disappointing 2023 campaigns.
Dolidze had a four-fight winning streak snapped by one-time title challenger Marvin Vettori at UFC 286 last March and is looking to recapture the momentum he generated during his perfect 2022 that saw him brutally finish Kyle Daukaus, Phil Hawes and Jack Hermansson to make a name for himself in the division.
Imavov is hoping to rebound from his winless 2023 after back-to-back unsatisfying results. A scheduled main event bout with former middleweight title challenger Kelvin Gastelum fell apart the week of the fight when Gastelum was injured, and Imavov ended up accepting a short-notice five-round scrap with Strickland at 205 pounds. Imavov lost a competitive unanimous decision to Strickland that night 12 months ago after being outstruck for the first and only time in his UFC career. The final total strikes tally was 194-131 in favour of Strickland after 25 minutes, but in hindsight, those five rounds offered a great learning experience for the 28-year-old Dagestan-born Frenchman.
Six months later, a clash of heads in the second round of his fight with Chris Curtis resulted in a no-contest. Imavov had been winning that fight, too, which added to his frustration.
He is stepping right back into the fire against Dolidze.
Dolidze is powerful and explosive both striking and when attempting submissions, while Imavov is smoother on the feet and has main event experience Dolidze lacks.
Dolidze has only gone the distance in three-round fights four times during his MMA career and Saturday marks his first scheduled five-round main event in the UFC. The 35-year-old Batumi, Georgia native acknowledged Wednesday when speaking with media the added attention from being a headliner is something to get used to. We’ll see if that added pressure and additional media obligations have any impact on his performance.
Stylistically this is a fascinating matchup between two fighters who have multiple avenues to victory. Michael Bisping aptly described Dolidze as “a brute” during his tilt with Vettori who pulled away on the scorecards the longer the fight progressed.
If Dolidze gets caught at distance and finds himself in a kickboxing-style striking match against Imavov, he’ll run the risk of falling behind on the scorecards yet again. Imavov, a training partner of heavyweight striking standout Ciryl Gane, throws more volume and lands with higher accuracy than Dolidze does.
Will Imavov be able to avoid Dolidze’s brutish power and look to emulate Vettori’s strategy, or can Dolidze’s finishing prowess result in another Performance of the Night bonus that potentially vaults him into a title eliminator later this year?
If the two engage in any meaningful grappling exchanges it would not be a shock to see Imavov hold a wrestling edge, while Dolidze is capable of a ligament-damaging submission if he gets a hold of a limb.
Dolidze and Imavov both said this week they felt Strickland should’ve walked away from UFC 297 with his hands raised, an indication the growing list of challengers at 185 pounds collectively senses the title and new champ are ripe for the picking.
Israel Adesanya’s potential return to the cage is the current x-factor in the division. The former two-time champ could get the first crack at Du Plessis, but beyond that, it’s difficult to predict how the top of the 185-pound division unfolds in the coming months.
“If you remember how (Strickland) got his title shot, he fought Nassourdine after he fought some guy (Abus Magomedov who was) out of the top 15 and he got a title shot,” Dolidze said. “That’s why I don’t like to make predictions and conversations like this. It will be what it will be. I’m ready for anything. That’s all.”
UNDERCARD OVERVIEW
Co-main has Fight of the Night written all over it: Renato Moicano and Drew Dober are rarely if ever involved in fights that leave the audience yawning. Dober is a knockout artist who has finished four of his past five opponents. Moicano has also won four of five except he hasn’t fought in close to 15 months. Will Dober run the risk of overcommitting on his strikes and end up in a vulnerable position against a skilled Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt? One thing Dober can’t afford to do is allow his opponent to take his back at any point. Moicano is 9-6 in the UFC with six of his victories by submission, all of those via rear-naked choke, and has looked excellent since moving up from featherweight to lightweight.
Will strawweight suit McCann? Molly McCann is looking to avoid the first three-fight losing streak of her career when she makes her 115-pound debut against Diana Belbita, a fighter she knows for a fact she can defeat … at least in a different weight class. McCann welcomed a green Belbita to the UFC in a 125-pound bout in October 2019 and swept the scorecards. Belbita, now 27 and competing in her natural weight class, feels she’ll hold the advantage over her charismatic English opponent in the rematch.
Whoever wins this one can likely expect a ranked strawweight opponent in their next outing. McCann’s star power should keep her on the UFC roster win or lose, but a third consecutive loss would all but destroy the 33-year-old’s UFC title aspirations.
Can Natalia Silva extend impressive winning streak? Quality matchmaking in the women’s flyweight division is set up to be plentiful in 2024 and the main card bout between Viviane Araujo and Natalia Silva is a prime example. This all-Brazilian matchup should have a fast pace and high output. Silva has won 10 in a row, boasts a 4-0 UFC record and is a handful on the feet, landing 5.20 significant strikes per minute while only absorbing 2.23. Araujo is the more battle-tested of the two but eats 5.19 significant strikes per minute and only lands 4.34 of her own.
Below is a look at the complete fight card and expected bout order.
MAIN CARD
— Roman Dolidze vs. Nassourdine Imavov
— Renato Moicano vs. Drew Dober
— Randy Brown vs. Muslim Salikhov
— Viviane Araujo vs. Natalia Silva
— Aliaskhab Khizriev vs. Makhmud Muradov
— Gilbert Urbina vs. Charles Radtke
PRELIMINARY CARD
— Molly McCann vs. Diana Belbita
— Azat Maksum vs. Charles Johnson
— Themba Gorimbo vs. Pete Rodriguez
— Lee Jeong-Yeong vs. Blake Bilder
— Luana Carolina vs. Julija Stoliarenko
— Landon Quinones vs. Marquel Mederos
— Thomas Petersen vs. Jamal Pogues
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