“I did not lose my country, my dignity”: Roman Dolidze addresses backlash after Reinier de Ridder loss

Roman Dolidze squared off against Reinier de Ridder in the light heavyweight bout at UFC Sacramento on Saturday. He suffered a TKO defeat and received heavy criticism for the fight plan he brought into the octagon. 

Dolidze has now addressed the criticism and released a statement on his social media account. 

Roman Dolidze refuses to shy away from criticism after Reinier de Ridder defeat

Dolidze willingly accepted the bottom position early in the fight to attempt a leg submission on De Ridder. However, that fight plan failed terribly, as ‘RDR’ showed incredible submission defense, managed to get his back control, and landed shots to the side of the head. The referee stepped in and stopped the fight at 4.01 of the first round. 

The loss marked the third defeat for Dolidze, and the performance has received heavy criticism from the MMA community. 

In his recent Instagram post, Dolidze addressed the backlash he is receiving. He admits that he understands the disappointment surrounding his performance. The Georgian fighter acknowledged that the fight did not go according to plan and recognized that he understands why some fans were disappointed.

“Hello. I know you are anxious, I was anxious too,” Dolidze wrote on Instagram. “But there is one thing I want to tell you: Failure is nothing to be ashamed of. I know today’s battle didn’t go well. I know many had different expectations of me, and I may have let you down. I am neither afraid to admit this nor do I shy away from it.” 

Dolidze emphasized that losing a fight does not mean he failed his country or abandoned his journey as a fighter and pointed out that victory is never guaranteed when fighters enter the octagon. 

“I fight on behalf of Georgia, and when I win, your joy is my joy too. But when I lose that, too, is part of the sport. No one enters the UFC with a guaranteed victory; every time, you face someone who is trying to defeat you,” he wrote. 

The Georgian fighter welcomed criticism of his performance and promised to analyze his mistake, and ended the statement on a positive note, telling his supporters that he will see them back in Georgia soon.

“You may criticize my fight,” he added. “You might say I made the wrong decisions or should have performed better; as an athlete, I accept this and will analyze it. I lost the fight. I did not lose my country, my dignity, or my path. See you in Georgia on Sept. 19.”

Check out Roman Dolidze's Instagram post below: 

With the loss, Dolidze now has a professional record of 15 wins and 6 defeats. In the next outing, he will try to get back in the win column and probably bring a better fight plan.