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

Lightweights

Renato Carneiro (17-5-1, 9-5 UFC) vs. Drew Dober (27-12, 13-8 UFC)

ODDS: Carneiro (-155), Dober (+130)

This co-main event pairs off two entertaining veterans in a fight high on potential violence while still having some stakes. Carneiro is having a bit of a career resurgence, and it is good to see him back in the cage for the first time since 2022. The Brazilian made his name as a featherweight contender with a win over Jeremy Stephens in 2017, which also served as a breakout in terms of Carneiro’s actual performance, showing an effective range striking game to go along with his vicious grappling. That combination served Carneiro well up until the point that he got within striking distance of a title shot, which is when he hit a clear ceiling against the power punchers of the division. Jose Aldo and Chan Sung Jung were willing and able to bite down and throw power against the Brazilian, and Carneiro did not have much of an answer before getting knocked out. That made a 2020 move up to lightweight a bit surprising, even if it is understandable why Carneiro would not want to continue draining himself. While his 155-pound debut against Damir Hadzovic went well, a quick knockout loss to Rafael Fiziev suggested that he would continue to face the same problems up a weight class. That has still been somewhat true, but Carneiro has looked surprisingly hearty in the time since the Fiziev loss, with 2022 in particular serving as a strong year. Carneiro steeled himself for a comeback win over Alexander Hernandez, hung tough for five rounds against Rafael dos Anjos, then blew through Brad Riddell to cap off the year, winning over Madison Square Garden with a charismatic post-fight interview. That seemingly set Carneiro up for a high-profile 2023, but injuries have kept him on the sidelines for 14 months, and he only now returns for a banger against Dober.

Dober’s carved out a niche for himself as a guaranteed action fighter on the fringes of the UFC’s lightweight rankings, an impressive rise given where he started during his time on the UFC roster. Dober first came to the UFC in 2013 and frankly did not show much until a 2016 win over Scott Holtzman, which saw him show off some chops as a volume-heavy striker. From there, he chugged along with mixed results until 2019, which is when Dober suddenly found his knack as a knockout artist. After blasting Marco Polo Reyes, Nasrat Haqparast and the aforementioned Hernandez, Dober was essentially a made man going forward in terms of action bona fides. Defensive wrestling is still a clear weakness for Dober after all these years, but the UFC has mostly pitted him against opponents just as willing to throw down and go to absolute war. A fight against Matt Frevola in May figured to be another one of those fights. While it was an exciting four-minute sprint, the end result of a Frevola knockout victory was a bit shocking. Dober has displayed one of the best chins in the sport during his time on the UFC roster, and a large part of his success has been his ability to lean on that durability to guide him through a war of attrition. Dober rebounded with a quick win over Ricky Glenn in October, but there is still some question as to whether the Frevola loss holds some sort of larger meaning going forward. Dober probably needs that durability here. He certainly has the capability of blasting Carneiro and scoring a knockout, but the same was true of Riddell, who quickly got tagged and tapped out. Add in that the Brazilian seems to be in career-best form mentally while Dober faces the first durability questions of his career, and this does seem like Carneiro’s fight to lose. Plus, at any point during either man’s career, there is still a decent shot that Carneiro can just take Dober down and tap him out without an issue. The pick is Carneiro via first-round submission.

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