No. 7 in the UFC middleweight rankings, Roman Dolidze probably didn’t just volunteer to replace Paulo Costa in the fight against Khamzat Chimaev, but was confident that he could win the fight based on his experience of training with “Borz”.
This was reported by Dolidze’s compatriot Merab Dvalishvili in an interview with Vato Gvinjilia channel.
“We were training at the Xtreme Couture gym and we were visited by Hamzat,” said the Georgian fighter. “There were me, Roman Dolidze, Khamzat Chimaev and Guram Kutateladze. I was sparring, I was focused on it, and suddenly I heard someone shouting”
“I turned around and saw Khamzat going crazy, beating his fists on the walls and everything that comes under his hand, and behind him Roman was walking proudly, obviously pleased with himself. Khamzat put ice on his leg to dull the pain
“Since I was just sparring, I didn’t see this moment, but the guys told me that Roman performed a painful leg kick, Hamzat didn’t tap and got injured. Hamzat should have tapped, because it’s just a training session.”
Last weekend, undefeated Hamzat Chimaev earned his seventh consecutive UFC victory by defeating Kamara Usman by majority judge’s vote to become the official middleweight title challenger, while Roman Dolidze will face fourth-ranked American Jared Cannonier on Dec. 2.
Source: https://fighttime.ru/news/item/32963-merab-dvalishvili-dolidze-pojmal-chimaeva-na-bolevoj.html?rand=19907
