Roman Dolidze

Roman Dolidze (born 15 July 1988) is a Georgian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2016, Dolidze was the former World Warriors Fight Championship (WWFC) light heavyweight champion, ADCC Asia & Oceania champion, and Grappling FILA world champion. As of 11 June 2024, he is #10 in the UFC middleweight rankings.

Background
Dolidze was born on 15 July 1988, in Batumi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union (now Georgia). Dolidze played soccer for eight years, the last three years of which spent as a professional goalkeeper in Turkey. At the age of 20, he moved to Ukraine to study shipbuilding engineering at Odesa Maritime Academy, and started training in sambo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and eventually grappling. He then also earned a degree in business administration. He went on to become the World Grappling Champion and the European Grappling Champion under United World Wrestling rules, as well as becoming the ADCC Asia & Oceania Champion at 99 kg (218 pounds) in 2016. This earned him a spot in the prestigious ADCC Worlds Tournament in 2017, however he was defeated in the first round. Aged 28, he started to train in MMA.

Early career
Dolidze made his MMA debut in 2016, where he was fighting out of Odesa, Ukraine. After winning his debut fight against Alexander Kovbel, Dolidze would go on to amass a 4–0 record in the Ukrainian circuit, before being given the chance to fight Eder de Souza for the vacant WWFC Light Heavyweight title. He beat de Souza by a second-round knockout. He was scheduled to defend his title against Michał Pasternak at WWFC 13. Dolidze beat Pasternak by a third-round knockout.

Ultimate Fighting Championship
Dolidze got signed to the UFC but before he made his debut, he tested positive for clomiphene and its metabolites M1 and M2, as well as a long-term metabolite of dehydrochlormethyltestosterone (DHCMT), 4-chloro-18-nor-17β-hydroxymethyl,17α-methyl-5α-androst-13-en-3α-ol (M3), as the result of an out-of-competition urine sample collected on 12 March 2019. He was suspended for one year due to this violation and he was eligible to fight on 12 March 2020.

On 3 September 2020, Dolidze along with Ryan Benoit, were granted temporary licenses following special hearings by the Nevada State Athletic Commission after they had recurring issues with the long-term metabolite of Turinabol pulsing in their system in trace amounts, long after ingestion. Both Benoit and Dolidze have already been suspended by United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), the UFC's anti-doping partner. Neither were facing a violation in Nevada, but the UFC wanted to get ahead of a potential issue. This was after USADA added a threshold for the presence of the M3 metabolite of DHCMT. If a test result is below 100 picograms per milliliter of the substance, it is no longer considered a violation, but an atypical finding, providing there is no evidence of new ingestion or performance-enhancing effects. Benoit and Dolidze were granted temporary licenses to compete beginning Dec. 1 following a six-month period of bimonthly testing by USADA.

A bout between Khadis Ibragimov and Roman Dolidze was initially scheduled for the promotion's inaugural event in Kazakhstan planned a month prior. However, the fight was postponed after the card was moved to Las Vegas due to travel restrictions for both participants related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pairing was left intact and eventually took place on 19 July 2020, at UFC Fight Night: Figueiredo vs. Benavidez 2. Dolidze won the fight via technical knockout in round one after in process of high kick, Ibragimov tried to go for a takedown, during which Dolidze hit him with a knee, knocking Ibragimov out.

Dolidze faced John Allan at UFC on ESPN: Hermansson vs. Vettori on 5 December 2020. He won the bout via split decision; however 19 out of 19 media members scored it a 30–27 for Dolidze.

Dolidze, as a replacement for Dricus du Plessis, faced Trevin Giles in his middleweight debut on 20 March 2021, at UFC on ESPN 21 He lost the close bout via unanimous decision.

Dolidze was scheduled to face Alessio Di Chirico on 5 June 2021, at UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Sakai. However, Di Chirico pulled out of the contest in mid-May due to an injury. Di Chirico was replaced by Laureano Staropoli. In a lackluster fight where Dolidze mostly held Staropoli in the clinch, he won the fight via unanimous decision.

Dolidze was scheduled to face Eryk Anders on 13 November 2021, at UFC Fight Night 197. However, Anders was pulled the event for undisclosed reasons, and he was replaced by Kyle Daukaus. In turn, the bout was scrapped due to COVID-19 protocols related to Dolidze’s camp.

Dolidze was scheduled to face Brendan Allen, replacing Brad Tavares on 4 December 2021, at UFC on ESPN 31. However, Dolidze was forced to pull from the bout due to complications in his recovery from COVID-19 and he was replaced by Chris Curtis.

Dolidze was rescheduled to face Kyle Daukaus on 18 June 2022, at UFC on ESPN 37. He won the bout via knockout in round one. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award.

Dolidze faced Phil Hawes on 29 October 2022, at UFC Fight Night 213. He won the fight via knockout in round one.

Dolidze, replacing undisclosed injury Derek Brunson, faced Jack Hermansson on 3 December 2022, at UFC on ESPN 42. He won the bout via ground and pound TKO in the second round.

Dolidze faced Marvin Vettori on 18 March 2023, at UFC 286. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Dolidze was scheduled to face Derek Brunson at UFC 295 on 11 November 2023. However, Brunson announced on 14 September that he was parting ways with the organization, and the bout was scrapped.

Dolidze was scheduled to face Jared Cannonier on 2 December 2023, at UFC on ESPN 52. However, Cannonier suffered an MCL tear in October during training and the bout was scrapped.

Dolidze faced Nassourdine Imavov on 3 February 2024, at UFC Fight Night 235 in his first UFC main event. He lost the bout by majority decision.

Dolidze was scheduled to face Anthony Hernandez on 1 June 2024 at UFC 302. However Hernandez was forced out of the bout due to a torn ligament in his hand and the bout was cancelled.

It was briefly announced that Dolidze would face Michel Pereira on June 8, 2024, at UFC on ESPN 57. However, Pereira claimed he never signed any contracts for the fight and the bout fell through.

Dolidze, on short notice and as a replacement for Carlos Ulberg, faced Anthony Smith in a Light Heavyweight bout on June 29, 2024 at UFC 303. He won the fight by unanimous decision.

Mixed martial arts

 * Ultimate Fighting Championship 
 * Performance of the Night (Three times) vs. Kyle Daukaus, Phil Hawes and Jack Hermansson
 * World Warriors Fight Championship
 * WWFC Light Heavyweight Championship
 * One successful title defense

Grappling

 * ADCC Asia & Oceania Champion
 * 2016 ADCC Asia trials (99 kg)
 * Grappling World Champion FILA