This Saturday at UFC Vegas 28 we had strong Argentine presence in the cage, and, in addition to Santiago Ponzinibbio, Laureano Staropoli returned to action, this time in a heavier category.
‘Pepi’ faced Roman Dolidze, in a bout at 185 pounds. The clash was part of the Main Card of the UFC Vegas 28 event, at the Apex. Speaking at a media conference, Laureano declared to be completely ready for the fight with the Georgian. The preparation was carried out in his homeland and with his lifelong coach.
Laureano Staropoli Made His Middleweight Debut With UFC Vegas 28 Loss VS Roman Dolidze
“I did this preparation in Argentina, I went to a camp to change my category. To feel strong and adequate to this new category I’m going to enter. Training in ATP, in the city of La Plata, with my lifelong trainer Martin Giralda. And the truth is that I feel spectacular to debut at 185 pounds.”
The Argentine stepped into the octagon for the fifth time, and made his debut in a new weight class. The former welterweight contender is now competing at middleweight, claiming that his past performances were marred by abrupt weight cuts.
Before the fight, Staropoli said:
“I think I’m going to stay in this category because I feel very comfortable, since I don’t cut a lot of weight. We fighters are used to our first fight being on the scales and it’s not like that. I want to break with that and that the first fight is the day you fight, not before. You have to beat your opponent, not the scales. I already made the mistake of not making weight last time, and the truth for me was an embarrassment. I decided to move up a weight class, feel strong and fight hard.”
His last two fights were decision defeats prior to the bout with Dolidze. He last lost to Tim Means in August of last year. And prior to that, he had been beaten by Muslim Salikhov, also by unanimous decision.
“What happened armored me, the truth. I’m thankful I had my last two losses, because I grew a lot as an athlete. I grew a lot mentally and I am more prepared than ever to go out and look for my victory. This is going to be a victory for Argentina and Latin America”.
Laureano has a record of 9 wins and 3 losses, and is now 2-3 in UFC after this latest. His debut inside the promoter was in 2018, at Fight Night held in Argentina. ‘Pepi’ entered as a replacement and took the fight defeating Hector Aldana unanimously. In addition, he took the ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus.
The last time he won was in 2019, at the UFC 237 event, when he faced Brazilian Thiago Alves and took the fight by unanimous decision.
Now he is entering a new category in search of tasting victory again, so it remains to be seen if he remains at middleweight. He was completely stripped of his concern of cutting a large amount of weight and he also took he fight on short notice, with only two weeks notice.
His opponent inside the cage, Roman Dolidze, now has a record of 9 wins and 1 loss, in UFC his fight record is 3-1. Of all his victories, 7 were by finish: 4 KO and 3 submissions and this latest victory of Staropoli came by decision. His last fight previously in the promoter was in March of this year. A loss, the only one in his career, by unanimous decision to Trevin Giles.
While, Laureano also possesses finishing power as, 7 of his fights won were finished before the limit. 4 wins by KO/TKO and 3 submissions.
This Saturday, in his corner he will count with the presence of the newly crowned lightweight champion, Charles Oliveira. His training partner in Brazil, at Chute Box.
“This fight is going to be something very special, I’m going to be accompanied by very special people for me. It’s a surprise, you’re going to see who will be with me in my corner and I’m going to enjoy it like I’ve never enjoyed a fight before.”
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