Middleweights Roman Dolidze and Christian Leroy Duncan faced off on the UFC London main card on Saturday, with CLD in very familiar territory.
Prior to his UFC run, Duncan had spent his entire pro fighting career in Cage Warriors, the leaking UK promotion. He’d fought in England three times since joining the big show, and was riding a three-fight win streak into the bout.
Dolidze had seen his own three-fight win streak snapped by Anthony Hernandez last time out.
The two former training partners kicked things off on the feet, with Dolidze landing a big overhand to start the fight. Duncan returned with a number of low kicks, racking up his striking numbers, but the Georgian vet quickly brought the fight to the ground by diving on a leg-lock submission that swept Duncan off his feet.
Attempting to get return to his feet, Duncan was continuously brought back down by the crafty Dolidze. Dolidze attempted another leg-lock submission that failed, but quickly got back to his feet and threw a spinning back elbow that landed clean on Duncan.
Undeterred Duncan continued to come forward toward Dolidze, who landed a second spinning back elbow flush on CLD, but it was Dolidze, despite the big strike, who was brought to the ground from his own momentum. Now in dominant position, Duncan allowed Dolidze back to his feet to get the striking going again, this time landing a spinning high kick that partially landed to the head of the Georgian veteran. As the round came to a close, Dolidze again went for another leg lock which CLD easily shrugged off, ending the round with all the momentum.
Round two continued with more powerful action from the middleweights, with Christian Leroy Duncan now opening up on the feet, landing a flush flying knee to the body of Dolidze that drew a significant reaction from the veteran.
Now in his own world, Duncan began touching up Dolidze with side kicks and jabs, where the lengthy home fighter held a significant advantage. Dolidze was eager to neutralize the striking after eating a few shots from CLD, clinching up and holding his opponent along the cage.
After around a minute of struggle against Christian Leroy Duncan, the English striker was able to break away from the hold of Dolidze, letting off an explosion of powerful hooks in the pocket. Feeling danger again, Dolidze grabbed onto Duncan once more as the final thirty seconds of the round expired.
Duncan continued his onslaught into round three, attempting to apply his own grappling with a failed wrestling slam to start. Roman Dolidze, now encouraged by his defense, landed a third spinning back elbow, this time not as clean as the others, but still a sign of life from the Georgian fighter.
Christian Leroy Duncan pushed forward despite the power coming back at him, which resulted in Dolidze eating another strike but eventually finding his most dominant position of the fight following a clunky takedown.
Dolidze worked his way to the back fairly easily, cinching up a body triangle that kept Duncan trapped tightly for the remainder of the fight while landing short punches to the head. It was a surprising decision considering how close rounds one and two were, as many expected Dolidze to attempt a choke.
The two middleweights clashed as the fight went to the scorecards, Christian Leroy Duncan earning a unanimous 29-28 victory over No. 11-ranked Roman Dolidze.
Victorious, CLD moves to 14-2 as a professional and will likely face an even higher-ranked opponent in his next matchup. He expressed a desire to fight up the rankings following the win.
Official Result: Christian Leroy Duncan def. Roman Dolidze by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
