The UFC kicks off their run of eleven consecutive weekends with an event tomorrow night with UFC Vegas 85. The card features 13 fights and will be headlined by a middleweight matchup between Roman Dolidze and Nassourdine Imavov. Let’s take a closer look at that fight and how it might play out, as well as some bets that might be worth targeting:
Nassourdine Imavov is 12-4 with a 75% finish rate in his wins and he will be looking to bounce back in this fight after a rough year in 2023. Imavov was finding success early in his last matchup against Chris Curtis, but the matchup was waved off after an incidental clash of heads led to a No Contest. Prior to that, Imavov lost a decision to Sean Strickland in his first UFC main event. Imavov is a very talented striker with solid volume who prefers to pick his opponents apart from range on the feet. He’s also a decent wrestler with the ability to take the fight to the ground when necessary and finishing ability once the fight gets there.
Roman Dolidze is 12-2 with 10 of his wins coming via stoppage and he will be making his first main event appearance with the promotion in this fight. As his finish rate would indicate, Dolidze is an extremely dangerous fighter who does an excellent job of mixing his weapons in the striking with plenty of power behind them as well. Prior to losing a decision to Marvin Vettori in his most recent fight, Dolidze had won four in a row with three wins coming via finish and earning performance bonuses in the process. Like Imavov, Dolidze is also a capable wrestler and grappler who can finish a fight on the ground just as well as he can on the feet.
This a very interesting matchup for the middleweight division and I expect this fight to be pretty competitive in the early minutes and rounds, with both fighters finding moments of success. Dolidze is unquestionably dangerous early in fights, but hasn’t really been taken into deep waters very often and extended late into many bouts. He also doesn’t have any experience fighting in the championship rounds (fourth and fifth), so it will be interesting to see how his cardio holds up if this one goes late. I think Imavov will be able to weather an early storm from Dolidze and will progressively take over this fight as the minutes and rounds tick by. Imavov has pretty solid takedown defense, higher striking volume and should be able to control range and stay safe on the feet. If Dolidze doesn’t find an early finish, I think Imavov will be live to find a stoppage of his own down the stretch or will be able to pick up a comfortable decision win on the scorecards in this matchup.
As for betting on this fight, Imavov’s money line is set at a pretty reasonable price at most sportsbooks, with FanDuel currently having the best line at -170. If you don’t want to lay the chalk and would prefer to bet on props, I think Imavov to Win and Over 1.5 Rounds is a great place to start. If you’re on DraftKings Sportsbook, you can get a better line building this one out on a Same Game Parlay (+105) than running the actual prop (-125). A riskier alternative would be to play Imavov to win in the latter rounds or by decision at +180 on FanDuel.