Roberto Soldic levitates Turkish opponent with terrifying knockout at ONE 171: Qatar 

Welterweight knockout artist Roberto Soldic had a momentous return to form at ONE 171: Qatar.  

“Robocop” made quick work of fellow revered slugger Dagi Arslanaliev on Thursday, February 20. In their welterweight MMA showdown, he scored a knockout of the year contender in just 1:55 of the first frame inside Lusail Sports Arena.  

The finish came in a much-needed victory for the Croatian after a rough start to life in ONE Championship. Having scored a prolific victory, he believes he’s back to his best as he gears up for a run at the ONE Welterweight MMA World Championship.

“It feels good, you know, I feel amazing. It is what I do always. This is my job. I’m not surprised about that, because I know what I can do, so I keep going. Sometimes you have ups and downs in life, in your career also, but now everything is alright. And yeah, I’m happy,” he said. 

“I said before, the future is mine. And when I step into the cage, I will be a big problem for any one. I hope I fight for the World Title.” 

Chatri Sityodtong wants Roberto Soldic-Zebaztian Kadestam rematch

ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sitytodtong has been eagerly awaiting the moment that Roberto Soldic showed himself in the promotion. And after the Croatian scored a highlight-reel knockout, Sityodtong sees two paths he can go down.

In May 2023, Soldic suffered a brutal defeat to former welterweight king Zebaztian Kadestam. Now that he’s off and running, the ONE Championship frontman wants to see the strikers run it back before a World Title opportunity can be earned.  

“I think fans around the world can now see his monstrous KO power, his monster one-punch KO power,” Sityodtong said.

“But obviously, you know, Kadestam took it very well in Denver. So I definitely want to see a rematch, but I definitely also want to see a potential title shot. So I need to talk to the team. I need to, obviously, talk to Christian Lee. But obviously, it was an incredible performance.”