When Dagi Arslanaliev steps into the cage at ONE 171: Qatar, standing across from him will be the last man to defeat a current UFC champion.
Dricus du Plessis may be on an 11-fight win streak, nine of which have come in the UFC and have seen him rise to the pinnacle of their middleweight division – but the name Roberto Soldic will still likely send shivers down the South African.
Germany’s Soldic downed du Plessis when they were fighting in KSW back in 2018. The bout was a rematch between the pair after du Plessis had won the first, but second time around there was no mistake from Soldic.
Deep into the third round he caught his foe with a huge overhand left that scrambled the then KSW welterweight champion. His opponent clearly in trouble, Soldic kept remarkable composure before finishing things shortly after with a flurry of heavy punches against the cage.
With a no-contest and loss on his ONE Championship record, fans are yet to see the best of ‘Robocop’ but fight fans know what he is capable of. Only du Plessis had beaten Soldic since the back end of 2016, until he was knocked out by Zebaztian Kadestam in his last outing in 2023.
Close to two years after that night in Denver, Soldic returns with a point to prove, and a win over Arslanaliev would be the perfect place to start.
The Turkish star is 9-2 overall in his pro MMA career, and has enjoyed some electrifying wins in ONE Championship.
With eight of his pro wins coming in ONE, his only MMA losses came via DQ against Georgi Stoyanov – a fight which he had dominated before an illegal kick to a downed opponent, and then current lightweight king Christian Lee.
With two fighters who want to end things quickly facing off, this one has all the credentials to be a fight of the night contender – with either man likely to have their eyes on Lee if they get their hand raised at the Lusail Sports Arena.
You can watch Dagi Arslanaliev and Roberto Soldic collide at ONE 171: Qatar, which takes place on Thursday February 20th at 5pm Mecca at the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar. For ticket information, click here. Alternatively, you can watch the event live on BeIn Sports or at watch.onefc.com.
Dricus du Plessis may be on an 11-fight win streak, nine of which have come in the UFC and have seen him rise to the pinnacle of their middleweight division – but the name Roberto Soldic will still likely send shivers down the South African.
Germany’s Soldic downed du Plessis when they were fighting in KSW back in 2018. The bout was a rematch between the pair after du Plessis had won the first, but second time around there was no mistake from Soldic.
Deep into the third round he caught his foe with a huge overhand left that scrambled the then KSW welterweight champion. His opponent clearly in trouble, Soldic kept remarkable composure before finishing things shortly after with a flurry of heavy punches against the cage.
With a no-contest and loss on his ONE Championship record, fans are yet to see the best of ‘Robocop’ but fight fans know what he is capable of. Only du Plessis had beaten Soldic since the back end of 2016, until he was knocked out by Zebaztian Kadestam in his last outing in 2023.
Close to two years after that night in Denver, Soldic returns with a point to prove, and a win over Arslanaliev would be the perfect place to start.
The Turkish star is 9-2 overall in his pro MMA career, and has enjoyed some electrifying wins in ONE Championship.
With eight of his pro wins coming in ONE, his only MMA losses came via DQ against Georgi Stoyanov – a fight which he had dominated before an illegal kick to a downed opponent, and then current lightweight king Christian Lee.
With two fighters who want to end things quickly facing off, this one has all the credentials to be a fight of the night contender – with either man likely to have their eyes on Lee if they get their hand raised at the Lusail Sports Arena.
You can watch Dagi Arslanaliev and Roberto Soldic collide at ONE 171: Qatar, which takes place on Thursday February 20th at 5pm Mecca at the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar. For ticket information, click here. Alternatively, you can watch the event live on BeIn Sports or at watch.onefc.com.
Source: sportsnewsireland.com