UFC Middleweight World Champion Dricus du Plessis testified to just how deadly Roberto Soldic’s left hand is after seeing his old rival’s triumphant return to MMA last week.
Soldic reminded everyone why his left hand is considered the heaviest in the world when he became the first person to knock Dagi Arslanaliev out in their welterweight MMA clash at ONE 171: Qatar at Lusail Sports Arena.
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Soldic needed less than two minutes to finish off the Turkish star, connecting on a booming left hook that took the soul out of his opponent.
Halfway across the world, du Plessis certainly enjoyed that knock out, happy that it wasn’t him on the wrong end of it this time.
“Wow. Well done [Roberto Soldic.] Hardest left hand in the world, I’m talking from experience,” du Plessis said.
He should know, having faced Soldic twice in the past. The Croatian heavy hitter was the last man to beat him and the only guy to ever knock him out when he got flattened by “RoboCop” in 2018.
The two then parted ways, with du Plessis becoming a UFC World Champion and Soldic joining the ranks of ONE, where he was finished by former ONE Welterweight MMA World Champion Zebaztian Kadestam in the second round.
That loss, and the break that he took soon after, made Soldic refocus on his hunger for the game.
“It feels good. I feel amazing. It is what I do, always. This is my job, you know, and I’m not surprised because I know what I can do. I’ll keep going. Sometimes you have ups and downs [in life], but now, everything is alright,” Soldic said.
“Sometimes it’s good to take some breaks from the fights. I missed [competing] now. Twenty months is enough time. I did my job. I performed. It’s nothing new for me.”
Now that he’s back to old form, Soldic has huge aspirations for himself, proclaiming that he’s coming after ONE Welterweight MMA World Champion Christian Lee, and he doesn’t see anyone stopping him.
“I said it before, the future is mine,” Soldic said. “And when I step in the cage, I will be a big problem for anyone. I hope I fight for the title.”
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