After injuries sidelined him for the longest layoff of his career, former middleweight title challenger Vettori (19-8-1 MMA, 9-6-1 UFC) returned Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, only to drop a unanimous decision against Roman Dolidze (14-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) in a rematch of a fight he won on the scorecards at UFC 286 in March 2023.

Dolidze (14-3) is back on a winning streak after losing consecutive fights for the first time. Dolidze has now beaten Vettori, Kevin Holland and Anthony Smith successively. Vettori (19-8-1) is on his first two-fight losing skid after dropping consecutive decisions to Dolidze and Jared Cannonier.

This will be Vettori’s first fight since losing in the main event of Fight Night in June 2023 to Jared Cannonier. He has been out of action since suffering an injury last year. The Italian has a career record of 19-7-1, with nine wins coming by submission.