Roman Dolidze didn’t expect Anthony Hernandez to be his next opponent, but he certainly feels ready for it.
Dolidze faces Hernandez in the main event of UFC Vegas 109 this Saturday at the UFC APEX. Following his victory over Marvin Vettori at UFC Vegas 104 in March, Dolidze called for a fight with former champion Robert Whittaker.
According to Dolidze, the UFC was interested in making that fight happen, but instead, Whittaker was booked to headline UFC Abu Dhabi in July, where he lost a split decision to Reinier de Ridder. Dolidze ended up getting “Fluffy” instead.
“No reaction, but my thoughts are like, MMA drama, you know?,” Dolidze told MMA Fighting. “And it’s funny for me because we have, probably, different understanding of what’s going on. Some guys are second Conor McGregors, [trying] to say like loud stuff, but sometimes, I don’t understand them.
“But they tell me that I will fight him. [For] two months, they were telling me that I will fight Whittaker. And after they announced that Whittaker is fighting de Ridder, they gave me Fluffy. It happened like that.”
Hernandez has won his past seven bouts and proven to be a tough opponent, with a cardio-heavy style that provides problems to all of his opponents. The 31-year-old recently earned a decision win over Brendan Allen at UFC Seattle in February.
After picking up wins over Kevin Holland, and past title challengers Vettori and Anthony Smith, Dolidze was a little surprised Hernandez was the name on the other side of the contract. To be fair, Dolidze feels his opponent may have deserved better as well.
“I said that I deserve a better opponent, that this is not a fight what I wanted — the fight with Fluffy,” Dolidze said. “But who cares? I will still fight. I will still win, and I will just make them give me fight that I deserve. …
“I think that UFC is, first of all, business. UFC is, first of all, a show and they have their own goals and their own way how to achieve what they wanna do. And now, it’s a situation when a lot of guys are up and coming, and a lot of good fighters[are] there and [it’s] a little bit [of a] mess. A lot of things going on there. And we both, I think, even my opponent Fluffy, we both deserve higher-ranked opponents, but in the end, we are fighting each other.
“But I think everything is fair. If you are still winning, they will have no they have no other option to give you title [shot]. That’s all.”
The middleweight division is in a fascinating place right now. De Ridder’s big win puts him in a potential bigger spot next, Dricus du Plessis is getting set to defend his title against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319 later this month, and Nassourdine Imavov faces Caio Borralho in a huge main event bout at UFC Paris.
With a win over Hernandez, Dolidze feels a title eliminator should be next.
“Anthony is different,” Dolidze explained. “Anthony is interesting fighter. I think he’s not [great] in [any one thing]. He’s not super striker, or he’s not super grappler, or he’s not super wrestler, but he’s super cardio guy, like Mario, you know? Like, he’s always like going.
“And he’s a good fighter and very interesting. Like I said, he’s not super grappler, but he could make you tired, and he’s a good grappler when you’re tired and you can’t do nothing. He has wins over good grapplers, high-level grapplers. He was losing fight, but when he makes them tired, he’s doing whatever he want to do. That’s why it’s an interesting fight, and he’s a good fighter, I think so. …
“It will be an interesting fight,” Dolidze continues. “I don’t know what he will offer me, but for anything, I’m ready, especially with his good side. He likes to go on the ground, let’s go on the ground. Let’s see [who is] better.
“And if you’re talking where I will be after this fight, after this win, I think he has a seven-fight win streak. That’s good. And when I will win over him, will put me higher [in the rankings], and I think I will be one step until title fight. One more fight, and title shot.”
