Roman Dolidze is running on a 3-fight winning streak with his latest electrifying victory over  Marvin Vettori at UFC Fight Night 254. The 15-3-0 Georgian middleweight avenged his loss at UFC 286 against ‘The Italian Dream’. After achieving this sweet moment, ‘The Caucasian’ decided to waste little time in calling out a big name in the middleweight division. The #8-ranked 185-lb fighter has set his eyes on two former champions of the division. Israel Adesanya.

The 36-year-old fighter from the Caucuses issued callouts to Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker. However, ‘The Reaper’ wasn’t too interested and turned down the matchup saying that he didn’t have anything to gain from fighting the Georgian middleweight. He even scathingly remarked Dolidze vs Vettori was akin to a ‘pub fight’.

In a recent Home of Fight interview with Jake Noecker, Dolidze was asked if Whittaker’s scathing comments had him change his preference towards fighting ‘The Last Stylebender’. He replied, “Izzy made sense even before because he was more dominant in 185. He was beating everybody, including Whittaker. And he is a great fighter, no matter what stage in his career or where he is now. But we need to respect what he has done. I like this matchup much more than Whittaker. But let’s see what UFC has prepared for me, and I am as always ready for anything and anybody, just give me the name.”

Going back to Whittaker’s pub comments, he said the following, “It was just like the exact same as their first fight, like they’re still at the same pub. They’re just like, ‘Ah, it’s you.’ And then they just started punching on again. It’s the exact same thing. I reckon they should run it back to break the trilogy, to get some closure on whatever reason they’re having a brawl.”

Not taking too kindly to being rejected, then mocked by the Australian former champion, ‘The Caucasian’ had the following to say for ‘The Reaper.’ “This is a talking guy who got knocked out a couple of times, and he got destroyed in his last fight… You’re speaking too loudly,” Dolidze told Home of Fight. “You need to prove that you’re so tough… Too loud for him to speak like that. We already saw what he is capable of doing and how many times he was stopped; he tapped.”

Potential beef or not, Roman Dolidze vs. Robert Whittaker would be a fun matchup. But for his career, the ideal fight at this point would be a fight against ‘The Last Stylebender’. And if that happens, Dolidze has the support of another champion who grappled with the Georgian and thinks that he can submit Adesanya.

Former UFC champion confident that Roman Dolidze can submit Israel Adesanya

“There are two realistic fights for me. It’s Whittaker or Adesanya. Let’s go. Just give me a date,” said the Georgian in the post-fight presser after winning against Vettori. Pumped after his win, he even promised UFC CEO Dana White that he would return to the cage in less than a week if it was needed. However, UFC might not give him such a short-notice fight just after his win against Vettori.

Nevertheless, whenever he does get a fight, and if it’s against Adesanya, former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling is confident that Dolidze will win via submission. He spoke about the same in The Weekly Scraps podcast and said, “If Roman can get him down, I think Roman could submit him relatively easily. And I’m only saying that because I’ve seen Roman grapple. I have grappled with Roman. Of course, he is twice my size. But his skills on the ground are super legit.”

‘Funk Master’ also stated that the middleweight star had grappled with Jon Jones. On top of that, his 3-fight winning streak gives him the leverage to call out combatants in the top 5. However, if he does not get the fight against Izzy, will Dolidze agree to a trilogy fight against Vettori? As per his answer to the media at UFC Vegas 104, ‘The Caucasian’ has some conditions.

The 36-year-old said, “Let’s be fair here, he gave me this rematch. If UFC needed it and they told me about it, I’d probably do it, just out of respect. Because I respect that he agreed to fight me. Why would he do this? Back then, I was No. 10, he was No. 7. He said he thought that it was Roman Kopylov, and he agreed to fight me. And just because of that respect, of mine for him, I can do this. But the UFC will have other plans for me,”. 

Right now, he is basking in the glory of his win and taking a much-needed rest. It is still unclear what UFC has planned for Roman Dolidze. Who do you think he is going to fight next? Share your thoughts in the comments below.