The bout went the full distance, with the judges giving the French representative the win by majority scores of 49-44, 47-47 and 48-46 at the end of five rounds. Imavov was close to an early victory in the end of the first round, when he seriously shook his opponent with a right punch, however, the Georgian fighter did not allow himself to be finished and waited for the signal for a break in active defense.
In the fourth round Imavov gave his opponent a kick to the head, which referee Herb Dean interpreted as a violation of the rules, although at the moment of striking Dolidze did not rest his palm on the canvas, but touched it only with his fingers. As a result, points were deducted from the Frenchman, which encouraged the Georgian representative for a while, but did not affect the outcome of the match.
In the interview after the fight Nassurdin Imavov said that he wanted to take a rematch from the former champion of the division, Sean Strickland, to whom he lost a year ago by unanimous decision on the results of five rounds.
In the co-main event, Brazilian lightweight Renato Moicano picked up his second straight victory, winning a unanimous decision over American Drew Dober.
The third most important event of the tournament was the welterweight fight between Randy Brown and Muslim Salikhov, in which the Russian was defeated by knockout in the first round.
Another Russian fighter, middleweight Aliaskhab Khizriev, poked his finger in the eye of Mahmud Muradov as early as the 11th second of the first round, as a result of which the representative of Uzbekistan was unable to continue the fight, which was declared a forfeit.
Other results included early victories for Charlie Radtke, Molly McCann, Temba Gorimbo and Luana Carolina.
All results from UFC Fight Night 235.