A strong ground game highlighted Dolidze’s performance as he was able to put Allan on the mat several times over three rounds and maintain control to ultimately get the job done. While Dolidze seemingly did more than enough to earn the victory, the judges returned a strange verdict with two officials giving him the fight 30-27 and 29-28 with Chris Lee as the dissenting judge with a 29-28 score for Allan.
Still the result went Dolidze’s way as he moved to 8-0 in his career and 2-0 in the UFC.
“It’s good for me,” Dolidze said about going all three rounds. “For me it’s really strange [the fight was scored a split decision].
“I was thinking the fight would be easier. This guy is really strong, he didn’t tap. He’s a really good guy. Strong mind, good, I like him.”
Dolidze was full of energy during the opening round while throwing a lot of power behind his punches and then transitioning to a takedown. With Allan on his back, Dolidze actually shouted at one of his coaches asking if he wanted a submission and that led to the Georgian fighter dropping down for a heel hook.
While it was a slick attempt, Allen slipped out of the submission but even after working back to his feet he was taking more damage from Dolidze in the striking exchanges.
The offensive output from Dolidze continued throughout the fight as he put Allan on the ground and battered him with punches while constantly looking to advance his position. Allan was utterly stuck under Dolidze, who was just weighing down on him and doing enough work that it was never possible for the Brazilian to break free of his grip.
With two rounds in his favor, Dolidze seemed to slow down in the final five minutes with Allan pushing forward in desperation mode. Despite his best attempts, Allan was only able to connect with a single right hand that caught Dolidze clean but he then gave up another takedown and he stayed on the canvas until the final horn sounded.
The result might read split decision but Dolidze definitely did more than enough to secure the win as he moves forward with his UFC career.
Following the fight, Dolidze also mentioned that a move down to middleweight is possible after his first two wins in the octagon came in the light heavyweight division.
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