Meet Roberto Soldic: The man who Dricus du Plessis doesn’t want you to know about 

Dricus du Plessis made waves after going on a 9-fight undefeated run that culminated with him defending his UFC Middleweight World Title against Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 this past weekend.  

But he has unfinished business with an old tormentor, and that man goes by the name of Roberto Soldic. 

Du Plessis and Soldic have history dating back to April 2018, when the now-UFC champ stopped Soldic in the second round by TKO to claim the KSW Welterweight Title in Poland. 

His reign, however, was short lived.  

True to his warrior spirit, Soldic bounced back six months later in London, where he delivered a devastating knockout in the third round to reclaim the crown.   

To this day, Soldic remains the last man to defeat Du Plessis. But will we ever see a rubber match between these two welterweight greats? 

Dricus du Plessis and Roberto Soldic: A tale of two paths 

While Dricus du Plessis went on to compete for the UFC after his stint in KSW and had an easy time handling the competition, Roberto Soldic signed with ONE Championship and quickly learned that there are levels to the game. 

At the time, Soldic was one of the most sought-after mixed martial artists on the planet. Every major promotion pursued his signature due to his remarkable resume. 

In fact, apart from being a dreaded hard-hitter, the raw power he possessed led him to two-division glory in KSW — Europe’s largest MMA outfit. 

So, it was safe to say that Soldic entered ONE Championship with considerable fanfare.  

But it was a big step up from the regional circuit, and he felt the change during his first two outings. 

Initially, he suffered a no contest. Then he lost by TKO to former ONE Welterweight MMA World Champion Zebaztian Kadestam. 

He has yet to return to action, but one win could pivot his path toward a showdown with current ONE Welterweight MMA World Champion Christian Lee. 

And if he happens to win that fight, the question then would be if MMA fans could ever see a super-fight between old rivals Soldic and Du Plessis.