Roman Dolidze stepped up for a short-notice battle in a higher weight class and came away with a win.
Usually a middleweight competitor, Dolidze (13-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) offered his services to fill in against Anthony Smith at light heavyweight on the main card of UFC 303 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. After 15 minutes, Dolidze earned a unanimous nod over Smith (38-20 MMA, 13-10 UFC) with scores of 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.
Dolidze set the tone early with a series of kicks targeting Smith’s legs, body and head. While Smith pressured forward looking to land punches, Dolidze attacked with kicks targeting the lead leg. Smith added a few kicks of his own, but one that missed prompted a friendly taunt from Dolidze.
As the leg kick battle continued, heavy punches were added to the mix late in the round, although a few boos were heard as the fighters returned to their corners.
Round 2 picked up right where it left off, but a big moment occurred when Dolidze blitzed forward, causing Smith to stumble to the ground. Dolidze rained in heavy punches as Smith covered up, eventually leading to top ground control as he realized the finish wasn’t there.
Smith exploded to his feet with less than half a minute to go, looking to land a big haymaker. Instead, Dolidze landed nicely.
Dolidze broke out a dancing taunt early in Round 3 as Smith targeted his legs with kicks. Smith smiled and touched gloves with Dolidze after, and they returned to trading intermittent strikes.
More boos from the crowd poured in with two minutes left, and both fighters responded by offering a higher volume of punches for a moment. But the fight reached the final horn, and the crowd voiced more displeasure with the contest.
With the unanimous decision win, Dolidze snaps a two-fight losing skid. The Georgian entered this short-notice bout on the heels of a pair of decision losses to Marvin Vettori and Nassourdine Imavov.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 303 results include:
Roman Dolidze def. Anthony Smith via via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
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