Take a look inside Roman Dolidze’s finish of Khadis Ibragimov at UFC on ESPN+ 30 in Abu Dhabi.
ABU DHABI – [autotag]Roman Dolidze[/autotag] beat Khadis Ibragimov with a first-round TKO Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC on ESPN+ 30 in Abu Dhabi.
Take a look inside the fight with Dolidze, who picked up a highlight-reel finish on his octagon debut.
Result:Roman Dolidze def. Khadis Ibragimov via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:15 Updated records: Dolidze (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), Ibragimov (8-3 MMA, 0-3 UFC) Key stat: Dolidze extended his 100 percent finishing rate with his fifth first-round finish, and his fourth successive knockout.
Dolidze on his knockout record
“I am only two years in MMA. Of course, I’m surprised because I’m a grappler and I KO people. It’s strange!”
Dolidze on his pre-fight chat with Michael Bisping
“We had a conversation and he asked me, ‘You’re only two years in MMA now you’re in the UFC. Are you happy? Is this your dream?’ I said no, it’s not my dream, I have other goals in my life. But really, I’m very excited to be here and it’s a big thing for me.”
Dolidze on what fired him up
“For me, I don’t like when someone at the weigh-ins is looking at me like crazy. And this guy started looking at me like crazy. It was a big mistake for him.”
To hear more from Dolidze, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.
Fighters from around the globe dream of the day they’ll step into the octagon the first time. How did the four newcomers perform Saturday?
Fighters from around the globe dream of the day they’ll step into the UFC octagon for the first time. For four athletes, Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 30 event marked that special moment in their respective careers.
Check out this week’s rookie report to see what kind of first impression they made on the sport’s biggest stage from Flash Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.
* * * * *
Carlos Felipe
ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – JULY 19: (L-R) Carlos Felipe of Brazil punches Serghei Spivac of Ukraine in their heavyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island on July 19, 2020 in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Division: Heavyweight Result: Serghei Spivac def. Carlos Felipe via majority decision (28-28, 29-27, 29-27) Record: (8-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) Grade: D
[autotag]Carlos Felipe[/autotag] bounded out of his corner for his UFC debut with bags of enthusiasm. But, despite an encouraging start, the Brazilian ended up on the wrong end of a majority decision against Moldovan Serghei Spivak.
Felipe looked full of energy at the start of the first round as he looked to establish his boxing straight away. He enjoyed some success with it, too, as he connected with a number of fast punches.
But as the fight wore on and Felipe’s pace started to ease off, Spivak got a foothold in the matchup and, when the Moldovan switched from striking to wrestling in the final round, the Brazilian had no answer as he lost an ill-tempered matchup on the scorecards.
The pair looked ready for a fourth round after the decision was read, but the damage had already been done and Felipe had suffered his first professional loss.
All the notable stats and figures to come out of UFC on ESPN+ 30, which saw Deiveson Figueiredo submit Joseph Benavidez in the main event.
The third event in the UFC’s four-card July stretch on “Fight Island” went down Saturday with UFC on ESPN+ 30, which took place at Flash Forum at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi with a main card that streamed on ESPN+.
After more than six months with the belt vacant, a new flyweight champion was crowned in the main event when [autotag]Deiveson Figueiredo[/autotag] (19-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) brutalized [autotag]Joseph Benavidez[/autotag] (28-7 MMA, 15-5 UFC) en route to a first-round submission victory. With the win, he became the first Brazilian to hold 125-pound gold.
For more on the numbers behind the 12-fight card, check below for 35 post-event facts to come out of UFC on ESPN+ 30.
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General
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The UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payout for the event totaled $165,000.
Debuting fighters went 2-2 at the event.
Figueiredo, [autotag]Ariane Lipski[/autotag], [autotag]Rafael Fiziev[/autotag] and [autotag]Marc Diakiese[/autotag] earned $50,000 UFC on ESPN+ 30 fight-night bonuses.
UFC on ESPN+ 30 drew an announced attendance of zero for a live gate of $0.
Betting favorites went 7-5 on the card.
Betting favorites improved to 13-6 in UFC headliners this year.
Total fight time for the 12-bout card was 1:33:56.
Main card
ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – JULY 19: Deiveson Figueiredo of Brazil celebrates after defeating Joseph Benavidez in their UFC flyweight championship bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island on July 19, 2020 in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Figueiredo became just the third flyweight champion in UFC history, joining Henry Cejudo and Demetrious Johnson.
Figueiredo has earned 16 of his 19 career victories by stoppage. That includes six of his eight UFC wins.
Figueiredo’s six stoppage victories in UFC flyweight competition are tied with Benavidez for second most ind divisional history behind Demetrious Johnson (seven).
Figueiredo’s eight knockdowns landed in UFC flyweight competition are most in divisional history.
Figueiredo lands 52.5 percent of his significant strike attempts in UF
Benavidez became the first in UFC history to go 0-4 in undisputed championship fights.
Benavidez suffered the first submission loss of his career.
[autotag]Jack Hermansson[/autotag] (21-5 MMA, 8-3 UFC) has earned 17 of his 21 career victories by stoppage.
[autotag]Kelvin Gastelum[/autotag] (15-6 MMA, 10-6 UFC) fell to 4-4 (with one no contest) since he moved up to the UFC middleweight division in December 2016. He’s 5-4 (with one no contest) in the organization at 185 pounds.
Gastelum has suffered both his career stoppage losses by submission.
Fiziev (8-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) has earned both of his UFC victories by decision.
Diakiese (14-4 MMA, 5-4 UFC) has suffered three of his four career losses by decision.
ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – JULY 19: (R-L) Ariane Lipski of Brazil secures a knee bar submission against Luana Carolina of Brazil in their flyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island on July 19, 2020 in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Lipski (13-5 MMA, 2-2 UFC) has earned nine of her 13 career victories by stoppage.
Lipski’s victory at 1:28 of Round 1 marked the second fasted stoppage in UFC women’s flyweight history. Veronica Macedo holds the record with a 69-second win at UFC on ESPN+ 14.
[autotag]Luana Carolina[/autotag] (6-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) suffered the first submission loss of her career.
[autotag]Askar Askarov[/autotag] (12-0-1 MMA, 2-0-1 UFC) has earned both of his UFC victories by decision.
[autotag]Alexandre Pantoja[/autotag] (22-5 MMA, 6-3 UFC) has suffered all five of his career losses by decision.
Preliminary card
ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – JULY 19: (L-R) Roman Dolidze of Georgia knocks out Khadis Ibragimov of Russia in their light heavyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island on July 19, 2020 in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
[autotag]Roman Dolidze[/autotag] (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) has earned all seven of his career victories by stoppage.
[autotag]Khadis Ibragimov[/autotag] (8-3 MMA, 0-3 UFC) has suffered three consecutive losses after starting his career 8-0.
Ibragimov suffered the first knockout loss of his career.
[autotag]Nad Narimani[/autotag] (12-4 MMA, 2-2 UFC) has suffered three of his four career losses by decision.
[autotag]Joe Duffy[/autotag]’s (16-5 MMA, 4-4 UFC) three-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since March 2017.
[autotag]Joel Alvarez[/autotag] (17-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) has earned all 17 of his career victories by stoppage. He’s finished 15 of those wins by submission.
[autotag]Montel Jackson[/autotag] (9-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) has suffered both of his career losses by decision.
[autotag]Amir Albazi[/autotag] (13-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) has earned 12 of his 13 career victories by stoppage.
[autotag]Malcolm Gordon[/autotag] (13-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) has suffered all four of his career losses by stoppage.
Gordon suffered the first submission loss of his career.
[autotag]Arman Tsarukyan[/autotag] (15-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) has earned both of his UFC victories by decision.
[autotag]Davi Ramos[/autotag] (10-4 MMA, 4-3 UFC) has suffered all four of his career losses by decision.
[autotag]Serghei Spivac[/autotag] (11-2 MMA, 2-2 earned the first decision victory of his career.
[autotag]Carlos Felipe[/autotag] (8-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) had his eight-fight winning streak snapped for the first defeat of his career.
UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.
UFC on ESPN+ 30 fighters took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay, a program that launched after the UFC’s deal with Reebok.
ABU DHABI – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 30 event took home event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $165,000.
The program, a comprehensive plan that includes outfitting requirements, media obligations and other items under the fighter code of conduct, replaces the previous payments made under the UFC Athlete Outfitting Policy.
UFC on ESPN+ 30 took place at Flash Forum at Yas Island. The main card streamed ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.
The full UFC on ESPN+ 30 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
Under the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program’s payout tiers, which appropriate the money generated by Reebok’s multi-year sponsorship with the UFC, fighters are paid based on their total number of UFC bouts, as well as Zuffa-era WEC fights (January 2007 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2011 and later). Fighters with 1-3 bouts receive $3,500 per appearance; 4-5 bouts get $4,000; 6-10 bouts get $5,000; 11-15 bouts earn $10,000; 16-20 bouts pocket $15,000; and 21 bouts and more get $20,000. Additionally, champions earn $40,000 while title challengers get $30,000.
In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-30 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.
Full 2020 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
“UFC on ESPN+ 30: Figueiredo vs. Benavidez 2” – $165,000
Check out all the fighter walkout songs from Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 30 event at “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi.
While it takes intense training, world-class skills and maybe even a bit of luck to register a UFC win, picking the right song to accompany you to the cage is a key talent, as well.
Inside, see what the fighters from UFC on ESPN+ 30 went with as their backing tracks in Abu Dhabi.
Roman Dolidze made an impressive debut at UFC at ESPN+ 30, much to the consternation of Khadis Ibragimov.
[autotag]Khadis Ibragimov[/autotag] ducked what sure looked like an incoming head kick from [autotag]Roman Dolidze[/autotag] in the first round of their fight Saturday.
Dolidze (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), however, had other plans. The light heavyweight out of the Republic of Georgia turned what looked like a head kick into a knee on the drop of a dime. Ibagimov (8-3 MMA, 0-3 UFC), for his part, put his face right in the path of the knee, and that ended the fight pretty much on the spot.
It went into the books as a TKO at the 4:15 mark of the first round for Dolidze in the featured preliminary bout of UFC on ESPN+ 30 at Flash Forum at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.
And it made for one impressive debut for Dolidze, who has finishes in all seven of his professional fights.
For his part, Dolidze said Ibgragimov mad-dogged him at Friday’s weigh-ins, which inspired him to come up with something extra special for the fight.
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“I’m very happy,” Dolidze said. “It was a good, tough opponent, but I don’t like when someone looks at me like he did yesterday. Big mistake.”
You can check out Dolidze’s handiwork in the video below (via Twitter):
“Fight Island” is real, and now the four cards that will take place there are real, as well.
“Fight Island” is real, and now the four cards that will take place there are real, as well.
UFC president Dana White today announced the complete lineup for the four cards that will take place next month in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. The unique setup has been necessitated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has made it difficult to get international fighters into the U.S. to compete.
“I think this is going to be a really unique experience, not just for the fighters, but for us,” UFC president Dana White said during the announcement. “It’s going to be cool. It’s going to be something different. It’s never been done before, and however long this thing goes on, and however long it’s hard to get people in from other countries, we will have these fights at ‘Fight Island’ – Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.”
First up, it’s UFC 251 on July 11, which features a trio of title fights.
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
Champ [autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag] – for welterweight title
Champ [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] – for featherweight title
[autotag]Petr Yan[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Jose Aldo[/autotag] – for vacant bantamweight title
[autotag]Jessica Andrade[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Rose Namajunas[/autotag]
[autotag]Amanda Ribas[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Paige VanZant[/autotag]
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN, ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)
[autotag]Volkan Oezdemir[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag]
[autotag]Muslim Salikhov[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos[/autotag]
[autotag]Makwan Amirkhani[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Danny Henry[/autotag]
[autotag]Roman Bogatov[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Leonardo Santos[/autotag]
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN, ESPN+, 6:15 p.m. ET)
[autotag]Alexander Romanov[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Marcin Tybura[/autotag]
[autotag]Raulian Paiva[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Zhalgas Zhumagulov[/autotag]
[autotag]Vanessa Melo[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Karol Rosa[/autotag]
[autotag]Martin Day[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Davey Grant[/autotag]
Calvin Kattar and Dan Ige
The promotion then returns on July 15 with an event headlined by featherweight contenders [autotag]Calvin Kattar[/autotag] (21-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC) and [autotag]Dan Ige[/autotag] (14-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC).
The complete lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (10 p.m. ET)
Calvin Kattar vs. Dan Ige
[autotag]Frankie Edgar[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Pedro Munhoz[/autotag]
[autotag]Carla Esparza[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Marina Rodriguez[/autotag]
[autotag]Abdul Razak Alhassan[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Mounir Lazzez[/autotag]
[autotag]Chris Fishgold[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Jared Gordon[/autotag]
PRELIMINARY (7 p.m. ET)
[autotag]Modestas Bukauskas[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Vinicius Moreira[/autotag]
[autotag]Molly McCann[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Taila Santos[/autotag]
[autotag]Lerone Murphy[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Ricardo Ramos[/autotag]
[autotag]John Phillips[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Dusko Todorovic[/autotag]
[autotag]Ryan Benoit[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Tim Elliott[/autotag]
[autotag]Diana Belbita[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Liana Jojua[/autotag]
Joseph Benavidez and Deiveson Figueiredo
Three days later, on July 18, the promotion hosts its third card in eight days, when top flyweight contenders [autotag]Deiveson Figueiredo[/autotag] (18-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) and [autotag]Joseph Benavidez[/autotag] (28-6 MMA, 15-4 UFC) meet for a second time with the vacant UFC flyweight title on the line.
The full card includes:
MAIN CARD (9 p.m. ET)
Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Joseph Benavidez – for vacant flyweight title
[autotag]Kelvin Gastelum[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Jack Hermansson[/autotag]
[autotag]Marc Diakiese[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Rafael Fiziev[/autotag]
[autotag]Luana Carolina[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Ariane Lipski[/autotag]
[autotag]Askar Askarov[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Alexandre Pantoja[/autotag]
PRELIMINARY CARD (6 p.m. ET)
[autotag]Roman Dolidze[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Khadis Ibragimov[/autotag]
[autotag]Grant Dawson[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Nad Narimani[/autotag]
[autotag]Joel Alvarez[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Joe Duffy[/autotag]
[autotag]Montel Jackson[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Brett Johns[/autotag]
[autotag]Aleksander Doskalchuk[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Tagir Ulanbekov[/autotag]
[autotag]Davi Ramos[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Arman Tsarukyan[/autotag]
[autotag]Carlos Felipe[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Serghei Spivac[/autotag]
Darren Till and Robert Whittaker
Finally, the UFC’s run in Abu Dhabi ends on July 25 with a much-anticipated middleweight contest between former champion [autotag]Robert Whittaker[/autotag] (20-5 MMA, 11-3 UFC) and former welterweight title challenger [autotag]Darren Till[/autotag] (18-2-1 MMA, 6-2-1 UFC).
That night’s full lineup includes:
MAIN CARD
Robert Whittaker vs. Darren Till
[autotag]Antonio Rogerio Nogueira[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Mauricio Rua[/autotag]
[autotag]Alex Oliveira[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Peter Sobotta[/autotag]
[autotag]Alexander Gustafsson[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Fabricio Werdum[/autotag]
[autotag]Nicolas Dalby[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Danny Roberts[/autotag]
PRELIMINARY CARD
[autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Jake Collier[/autotag]
[autotag]Raphael Pessoa[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Justin Tafa[/autotag]
[autotag]Movsar Evloev[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Mike Grundy[/autotag]
[autotag]Bethe Correia[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Pannie Kianzad[/autotag]
[autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Nathaniel Wood[/autotag]
[autotag]Ramazan Emeev[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Shavkat Rakhmonov[/autotag]
Three times Roman Dolidze has been scheduled for his UFC debut – and three times his fights have been canceled
Will the fourth time be the charm for [autotag]Roman Dolidze[/autotag]?
Three times the Georgian light heavyweight has been scheduled for his UFC debut – and three times his fights have been canceled. Now, the UFC is close to booking Dolidze (6-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) for the fourth time – this time against former M-1 Global light heavyweight champion [autotag]Khadis Ibragimov[/autotag].
The two fighters are expected to square off July 18 at a UFC event set to take place on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi – also known as “Fight Island.” Both fighters recently confirmed the booking on social media after an initial report from MMA DNA.
Dolidze and Ibragimov (8-2 MMA, 0-2 UFC) were scheduled to fight on June 13 in Kazakhstan. However, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic led to the event’s cancellation.
Dolidze signed with the UFC in early 2019. Prior to his scheduled debut, Dolidze was injured and withdrew from the bout. He was booked for a fight three months later, but was flagged by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency in the lead-up and suspended one year.
As for Ibragimov, a Russian light heavyweight, he’s lost both of his UFC appearances. After being submitted by Da Un Jung in his UFC debut in August 2019, Ibragimov lost a unanimous decision to Ed Herman this past November.
With the addition, the current July 18 lineup includes:
Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Joseph Benavidez – for vacant UFC flyweight title
