UFC London gets first fight as surging contender looks to break into UFC rankings

The UFC’s return to London on March 21 reportedly has its first fight in the form of a middleweight matchup between Roman Dolidze and Christian Leroy Duncan.

Although it didn’t come with any fight announcements, the UFC recently confirmed that the world’s leading MMA promotion will return to London, England for a UFC Fight Night event at the O2 Arena on March 31.

The card will undoubtedly be stacked with as much local talent as the UFC can manage, and Alex Behunin reports that Leroy Duncan will have a chance to break into the middleweight rankings in his home country when he squares off with Dolidze.

Christian Leroy Duncan Carries Three-Fight Win Streak Into UFC London

A former Cage Warriors champion, Duncan joined the UFC as an undefeated talent in 2023 and improved to 8-0 when he defeated Duško Todorović via injury TKO in his promotional debut.

After suffering his first professional loss against Armen Petrosyan, Duncan showcased the finishing skills that first helped attract the attention of the UFC when he earned second-round stoppages of Denis Tiuliulin and Claudo Ribeirio. Those two victories earned him a step up in competition at UFC 304 against Gregory Rodrigues, who halted the Englishman’s momentum with a unanimous decision victory.

Christian Leroy Duncan (red gloves) fights against Andrey Pulyaev (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at O2 Arena. | Peter van den Berg-Imagn Images

“CLD” returned to the win column in March by defeating Andrey Pulyaev, and he’ll now head to UFC London on a three-fight win streak after a pair of violent finishes against Eryk Anders and Marco Tulio that earned him back-to-back “Performance of the Night” bonuses.

Roman Dolidze Set To Defend Spot In UFC Middleweight Top 15

Standing across from Duncan at the O2 Arena will be longtime UFC veteran Dolidze, who currently sits at #12 in the promotion’s middleweight rankings.

After bringing his overall record to 8-0 with a pair of wins in his first two UFC outings in 2020, Dolidze dropped down to the middleweight division and suffered his first loss against Trevin Giles. That was followed by an impressive four-fight win streak that included three-straight stoppages, but the Georgian’s run of victories led into back-to-back losses at the hands of Marvin Vettori and Nassourdine Imavov.

Roman Dolidze (red gloves) reacts after defeating Kevin Holland (not pictured) during UFC 307 at Delta Center. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

The 37-year-old got back on track with a three-fight win streak capped off by a victory over Vettori when the pair met in a UFC Fight Night-headlining rematch in March, but Dolidze missed out on a chance to break into the Top 10 of the middleweight division when he was submitted by Anthony Hernandez in his last outing.

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