LAS VEGAS – Roman Dolidze is familiar with the study antonio smith.
Dolidze (12-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) steps in at short notice to face Smith (38-19 MMA, 13-9 UFC) in a light heavyweight bout at Saturday’s UFC 303 (pay-per-view , ESPN, ESPN+) main card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Smith is coming off a first-round submission win over Vitor Petrino at UFC 301, knocking the Brazilian out of his unbeaten record. Although “Lionheart” has alternated wins and losses in his last five fights, Dolidze knows not to underestimate him.
“He has a lot of experience and if we think about his last fight, everyone thought he was going to lose that fight, but he won,” Dolidze told MMA Junkie and other reporters in a pre-fight press conference on Wednesday.
“And that’s the best answer I can give you. You never know what an experienced fighter like him can do in a fight, but of course we all understand that the best days he had are in the past. But I still (value) him for everything he did for this sport.”
Smith is a former title challenger. He faced Jon Jones for the light heavyweight title at UFC 235 in 2019, but lost by unanimous decision. Dolidze says Jones sought his help with Smith’s ground game.
“In the past, I also helped Jones prepare for a fight with Smith, and Jones was very worried about his jiu-jitsu,” Dolidze said. “I remember it well and that’s exactly why I was training with him. That’s why I respect (Smith), and I’m not looking at him like, ‘Oh, he’s done’ or anything like that, and I’m not going to tell you that just to exaggerate.”
For more information on the card, visit the MMA Junkie events hub to UFC 303.
