Roman Dolidze made a pair of calculated callouts when he asked to fight Robert Whittaker or Israel Adesanya next following his unanimous decision victory over Marvin Vettori, which marked his third win in a row overall.
He specifically targeted Whittaker and Adesanya, because despite being former champions, both are coming off losses and looking to get back on track in the division. While he hasn’t heard much from Adesanya yet, Dolidze wasn’t amused by the way Whittaker dismissed a potential fight against him when reacting to the callout.
“I’m trying to fight a top five guy, dude, join the queue,” Whittaker said about Dolidze on his podcast. “I watched [a round and a half] and was like, ‘Dude, I have nothing to gain from this,’ and I went back to playing Monster Hunter Wilds.”
Whittaker also criticized the rematch between Dolidze and Vettori, calling it “the exact same as their first fight” while clearly expressing no interest in facing the Georgian middleweight.
“It’s funny. It’s very childish,” Dolidze told MMA Fighting when reacting to Whittaker’s response. “How somebody who lost [to Khamzat Chimaev], who tapped so easy and didn’t show the heart of a fighter can speak such things like he said after losing like that. It doesn’t make sense. You need to prove different to speak like that. I can’t take his words serious. It’s very childish for me.
“If he doesn’t want to fight, say he doesn’t want to fight but to find so many excuses of why he doesn’t want to fight me, just calm down, boy, and do whatever you want. If he doesn’t want it, no problem.”
While Whittaker definitely still carries a lot of weight in the division, he’s gone 3-3 in his past six fights and he’s unlikely anywhere near another title shot after being finished by reigning champion Dricus du Plessis as well as his submission loss to Chimaev.
That’s why Dolidze doesn’t understand why Whittaker is trying to be so picky about his opponents, especially with the chance to face a fighter on a solid win streak right now.
“Adesanya also, these two guys, I didn’t neglect their achievements in MMA and what they did before but now they are the downfall,” Dolidze said. “Same with Adesanya, he’s a very good guy. He was a dominant champion. I don’t have nothing against him as a fighter, as a person, but I just want to fight with the best guys. If I’m calling them out, it’s because I think they are one of the best, nothing more.
“I called out these guys because it makes sense. They’re both on top of the division for too long. They’re both coming off losses.”
Dolidze doesn’t know if Adesanya views his callout in the exact same way as Whittaker but he admits it’s a little frustrating with the middleweight division at a standstill and two of the biggest stars currently sitting on the sidelines.
He acknowledges that Chimaev is almost certainly next for du Plessis while Nassourdine Imavov — a fighter he fought to a close majority decision — definitely deserves his own opportunity to fight for UFC gold. But everybody else occupying spots near the top of the rankings should start looking for fresh, new challenges and Dolidze believes he deserves to that kind of opportunity.
“The Adesanya fight I think also make sense because he’s also quiet,” Dolidze said. “Who knows, maybe he’s thinking about it and maybe the UFC offered him something. But I’m ready for anybody they offer because who I wanted to fight, I already said. Of course, I want to fight somebody higher ranked that me. As I mentioned to you, I’m not a guy who is stepping back if they offer me somebody else. Of course, who makes sense for my career, I will agree to fight.
“I always wanted to fight Khamzat [Chimev], but Khamzat deserves to fight for the title. He’s fighting for the title. [Nassourdine] Imavov deserves to fight for the title. Why I called these two guys, Whittaker and Adesanya, the division is stuck. There is a line for the title. They deserve to fight for the title. That’s why nobody wants to wait, but Imavov will wait probably. But there is Caio [Borralho], [Sean] Strickland, Whittaker and Adesanya. All of these guys need to fight. If they want to sit and wait for some magic, they can wait but I’m here to fight and I’m ready to do it.”
Dolidze also scoffs at the idea that he’s not worthy of Whittaker’s attention and the same goes for Adesanya because ultimately they’re still getting paid the same money to fight him as anybody else in the division.
“We are doing all this, it’s our job. Don’t be liars,” Dolidze said. “So many people when they say we are not doing this for money, I look at their eyes and I say you guys are liars. OK, fight me for one dollar. He will fight me never. He will fight exactly what is on his contract. I’m doing this for money. I want to make more money. If they will not fight, they will sit home and not make money.
“That’s why this whole thing doesn’t make sense. I need to fight. They need to fight. Let’s go. If they think a fight with me is so easy, then fight me and make your money.”
In an ideal situation, Dolidze would actually get somebody like Whittaker or Adesanya as his next opponent and those are both fights worth waiting for.
That said, the 36-year-old veteran isn’t trying to wait forever and as much as he wants a top-ranked opponent or a former champion as his next opponent, Dolidze won’t turn down an opportunity if the UFC comes calling.
“New Roman, he will wait probably if there will be something interesting,” Dolidze said. “Of course, I’m the guy who loves to fight. I have so many short-notice fights. I have probably three fights short notice, like short-short — like one week notice, 10 days notice — like when I was fighting [Jack] Hermansson, in 10 days I cut 14 kilos (approximately 30 pounds) — it was not easy. That was probably my worst weight cut because I had some vision problems and some things going on. Things like that can’t stop me.
“But if will make sense to fight and they will offer me some fight that is better for my career, better for my future, maybe I will wait. But all these guys who I mentioned, they haven’t fought for [a long time]. They also need to fight. Let’s see what will happen. I want to fight.”
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