Preview: UFC Fight Night 235 ‘Dolidze vs. Imavov’

The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday returns to the UFC Apex in Las Vegas after a one-week break with a decent but top-heavy card. The top four bouts carry the day for UFC Fight Night 235, led by the middleweight headliner between Roman Dolidze and Nassourdine Imavov. While it may not be the highest-profile pairing in terms of star power, it is an interesting matchup with high stakes for both men. Meanwhile, Renato Carneiro and Drew Dober square off in an excellent co-feature that could main event most shows of this size. Beyond that, there are two other intriguing bookings: Randy Brown and Muslim Salikhov collide in a welterweight attraction, while women’s flyweight prospect Natalia Silva—who has looked every bit the potential title contender during her UFC run thus far—looks for her most significant victory to date against Viviane Araujo.

Now to the UFC Fight Night “Dolidze vs. Imavov” preview:

Middleweights

Nassourdine Imavov (12-4, 4-2 UFC) vs. #10 MW | Roman Dolidze (12-2, 6-2 UFC)

ODDS: Imavov (-166), Dolidze (+140)

This is a well-matched fight, as two fringe middleweight contenders each look for a statement victory after a winless 2023. Dolidze has been a hard fighter to parse during his three and a half years in the UFC, but it appears the Georgian might be hitting his stride in terms of consistency. Dolidze came to the UFC as an undefeated light heavyweight with a disjointed but effective game. He did not have much of a process in terms of a fighting style but would throw out enough low-percentage power strikes and submission attempts that eventually something would work, mostly thanks to his natural strength and athleticism. Things went well enough for Dolidze in his first two UFC fights, winning both, but then he surprisingly cut down to middleweight. The idea made sense, if only because Dolidze would have even more of a natural advantage against smaller opponents, but it also seemed unnecessarily risky given his prior success, particularly when his first few middleweight fights saw him engage in some hideously low-output grinds. Dolidze worked through that phase of his career and came out the other end as dynamic a finisher as ever, racking up stoppage wins over Kyle Daukaus, Phil Hawes and Jack Hermansson. The Daukaus win was especially grisly, as Dolidze broke multiple bones in his opponent’s face with a clinch knee. However, Dolidze’s finish of Hermansson might have been a more terrifying display of creative brutality, with Dolidze clamping on a calf slicer to pin the Frontline Academy star to the canvas and pound out a stoppage. Dolidze’s lone fight of 2023 saw his momentum finally halt against Marvin Vettori, but things went about as well as possible for him in a losing effort. He showed an actual commitment to pace and striking volume that should serve him well going forward against opponents less durable than Vettori, assuming it was not just the Italian’s own high-paced style that forced Dolidze into that type of fight. Repeated injuries to Dolidze’s opponents denied him an opportunity to build on those gains for the rest of 2023, but his long-awaited attempt at a rebound comes here against Imavov.

Imavov also made his UFC debut in 2020, coming to the promotion with a much more defined approach than Dolidze but just as many questions. The Dagestan-born Frenchman racked up an impressive record with a combination of range striking and wrestling but appeared to have a level of overconfidence that could get him blasted by more potent opponents at the UFC level. While Imavov had some issues early on in his UFC career, namely a 2021 loss to Phil Hawes, his game held up surprisingly well. Imavov is a hearty fighter who has been able to demonstrate his durability, and his sheer size for the division has caused opponents a lot of problems. Imavov rebounded from the Hawes loss with wins over Ian Heinisch and Edmen Shahbazyan that turned into absolute routs, and after handling Joaquin Buckley in his lone fight of 2022, Imavov headed into 2023 looking like a potential contender. However, the UFC’s first main event of the year saw Imavov get turned back by Sean Strickland, who was able to weaponize his pace and pressure to constantly keep him on his toes; and what looked like a rebound win over Chris Curtis ended in a no contest thanks to an accidental clash of heads. That sets up an intriguing matchup against Dolidze. It could prove to be a bit tricky, given that Dolidze is one of few middleweights who has some size parity with Imavov. The 28-year-old Imavov has historically been the higher-paced fighter, so at most points during each man’s careers, it is easy to see this playing out as a fight where he can stay at range and frustrate Dolidze, turning the Georgian’s preference for a slow-paced style into something bordering more on ineffective inactivity. That all gets thrown into question with Dolidze’s performance against Vettori. Assuming he can string together some semblance of pressure and volume over the course of five rounds, there is a decent chance that sows some doubts into Imavov’s mind and instead forces him into a tentative approach. It is still a bit difficult to bank on one fight where Dolidze fought against type, but that is enough to give him the nod in this one. In general, there is also the sense that Imavov is going to be the one much more bothered by size and strength parity if these two lock horns head-on at any point. It is a fascinating litmus test for both men. The pick is Dolidze via decision.

Jump To »
Dolidze vs. Imavov
Carneiro vs. Dober
Brown vs. Salikhov
Silva vs. Araujo
Khizriev vs. Muradov
Urbina vs. Radtke
The Prelims