Dolidze, Imavov look for return to winning form

Roman Dolidze and Nassourdine Imavov will both be chasing a return to winning form in the UFC when they meet in the middleweight main event of a Fight Night set for the APEX Facility in Las Vegas on the morning of Sunday 4 February 2024.

Dolidze (12-2) suffered a unanimous decision loss to Marvin Vettori in his last match in March of 2023, breaking a run of four straight wins which had brought him close to being considered a division title contender.

“I think every fight is giving me something new because I’m still learning and finding new things in my technique,” said the 35-year-old Georgian.

“I still need to learn a lot of things and that’s probably the best part. For every fight, I’m different and I try to be different.”

Imavov (12-4, 1 NC), meanwhile, failed to claim a win from either of his two fights in 2023. In the first he was beaten by unanimous decision by Sean Strickland (who would go on to win the middleweight title later in the year), before a clash with Chris Curtis was declared a No Contest due to an accidental clash of heads in the second round.

“Winning a main event is about ranking, first of all,” said the 28-year-old Russian-born Frenchman. “I would be proud to win the fight, but the biggest prize is the improvement in rankings and that brings me closer to the goal, which is to become a UFC champion.”

The rest of the main card features a lightweight clash between Renato Moicano and Drew Dober as the co-main: welterweight fights pitting Randy Brown against Muslim Salikhov, and Gilbert Urbina against Charles Radtke; Aliaskhab Khizriev faces Makhmud Muradov in the middleweight division; and a women’s flyweight opener sees an all-Brazilian battle between Viviane Araujo and Natalia Silva.

UFC Fight Night: Dolidze v Imavov – Main card

- Main event: Middleweight: Roman Dolidze v Nassourdine Imavov

- Lightweight: Renato Moicano v Drew Dober

- Welterweight: Randy Brown v Muslim Salikhov

- Middleweight: Aliaskhab Khizriev v Makhmud Muradov

- Welterweight: Gilbert Urbina v Charles Radtke

- Women’s flyweight: Viviane Araujo v Natalia Silva