Roman
Dolidze evened the score.
The Xtreme Couture standout avenged a March 2023 defeat and made
his most significant move yet in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight division, as he
willed his way to a five-round unanimous decision over Marvin
Vettori in the
UFC Fight Night 254 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in
Las Vegas. All three cageside judges scored it the same: 49-46 for
Dolidze (15-3, 9-3 UFC).
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Vettori (19-8-1, 9-6-1 UFC) landed his share of shots—he wobbled
the Georgian with a counter left hand over the top in the third
round and flurried for a potential stoppage—but seemed to struggle
to match his opponent’s output, especially in the back half of the
fight. Already ahead on the scorecards, Dolidze turned up the heat
in Round 5, where he connected with several clubbing right hands, a
few body kicks and a collar-tie knee. He then cut off Vettori’s
forward progress with a series of head kicks and crossed the finish
line with room to spare.
Meanwhile, ex-Tachi Palace Fights champion Chidi
Njokuani weathered a failed weight cut—he missed the mark by
1.25 pounds—and dismissed Elizeu
Zaleski dos Santos with a knee strike and follow-up elbows in
the second round of their welterweight co-main event.
Zaleski dos Santos (25-9-1, 11-5-1 UFC) met his end 2:19 into Round
2.
Njokuani (25-10, 5-3 UFC) tipped his spear with crushing front
kicks to the body and occasional jabs. Zaleski dos Santos dazed him
with a right hook in the first round but failed to pair it with
anything meaningful and ultimately let his counterpart off the
hook. Njokuani picked up his intensity in the middle stanza. There,
he snatched a collar tie in the middle of an exchange and decked
Zaleski dos Santos with a perfectly placed knee. Njokuani gave
chase, set up in a kneeling position above the CM System mainstay
and tied a bow on his latest performance with a burst of unanswered
elbows.
The 36-year-old Njokuani now finds himself on a three-fight winning
streak.
Further down the main card, Factory X standout Alexander
Hernandez called upon repeated takedowns and positional control
ahead of a unanimous decision over former Titan Fighting
Championship titleholder Kurt
Holobaugh in their three-round lightweight showcase. All three
members of the assigned judiciary sided with Hernandez (16-8, 8-7
UFC): 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.
Holobaugh (21-9, 2-6 UFC) outhustled “The Great Ape” in a few
standup exchanges, leaving visible damage around his eyes and blood
trickling from his nose. Hernandez answered with momentum-sapping
takedowns, flirted with arm-triangle chokes on more than one
occasion and kept the Denham Springs, Louisiana, native pinned to
the canvas for considerable chunks of time. It was enough to keep
his head above water.
Hernandez, 32, has posted back-to-back victories in almost seven
years.
Elsewhere, Kill Cliff Fight Club export Da’Mon
Blackshear dispatched “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 31 finalist
Cody
Gibson with a kimura in the second round of their bantamweight
feature.
Blackshear (16-7-1, 4-3-1 UFC) slammed the door shut 4:09 into
Round 2.
Gibson (21-11, 3-6 UFC) had the onetime Cage Fury Fighting
Championships titleholder in a state of retreat for much of the
first round, as he overwhelmed him with pressure and body-head
punching combinations. Blackshear conceded a takedown inside the
first 90 seconds of the middle stanza but soon sprang the reversal
and settled in side control. He hacked away with elbows from top
position, progressed to a mounted crucifix, isolated Gibson’s right
arm and sealed the deal.
Though Blackshear now has 11 submission wins to his credit, this
was his first via kimura.
Not to be overshadowed, ex-Shooto Brazil titleholder Brendson
Ribeiro put away the previously unbeaten Diyar
Nurgozhay with a kimura in the second round of their light
heavyweight attraction. Nurgozhay (10-1, 0-1 UFC), who missed
weight for the match by a whopping 4.5 pounds, raised the white
flag of surrender 1:28 into Round 2.
Ribeiro (17-7, 2-2 UFC) landed virtually all the consequential
blows and even dropped the Tobet Top Team product with a sharp
one-two in the first round. Nurghozay completed a takedown early in
the middle stanza but played too loosely in the Brazilian’s guard.
Ribeiro framed the kimura, swept into top position, maximized the
torque and prompted the tapout.
It was the first submission victory for Ribeiro since August
2021.
Finally, former three-division Samurai Fight House champion
Kevin
Vallejos shined in his promotional debut, as he buried Seung Woo
Choi with punches in the first round of their featherweight
appetizer.
Choi (11-8, 4-7 UFC) succumbed to blows 3:09 into Round
1.
Vallejos (15-1, 1-0 UFC) was poised and patient in his first
appearance under the bright lights. He eased into the match behind
leg kicks and thudding body-head combinations. The 23-year-old
Argentinian prospect floored Choi with a looping right hook on the
counter and forced him into a defensive shell on all fours at the
base of the cage. From there, Vallejos cut loose with rapid-fire
punches until referee Kerry Hatley had seen enough.
Choi has lost five of his last six fights.
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