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Sherdog Prospect Watch: Roberto Soldic

Tudor LeonteNov 30, 2022

Thanks to his impressive striking skills and notorious killer instinct, knockout artist Roberto Soldic imposed himself as one of the most exciting prospects at the moment. Better known as “Robocop,” the dangerous 27-year-old will make his One Championship debut at ONE on Prime Video 5, where he will lock horns with Murad Ramazanov. Soldic will step into the Circle riding a seven-bout win streak and featuring a finishing rate of 90% across his 20-3 record. Throughout his career, he has gone to a decision just four times, taking home the victory on two occasions. Soldic has competed at 170 and 185 pounds, and will now join ONE’s 185-pound welterweight division.

Soldic made his mixed martial arts debut when he was 19, immediately showcasing a propensity for finishing his opponents. No matter where the fight goes, the Croatian can always be dangerous, thanks to his varied offensive arsenal. Before transitioning to MMA, Soldic acquired combat sports experience in boxing, reporting four knockout triumphs. While Soldic does tend to finish his foes with punches, often during ground-and-pound action, the UFD Gym representative has also recorded two finishes by kick. He has scored just one submission in his 23-bout career, via guillotine choke when he forced Malden Ponjevic to tap 35 seconds into their Fight Night Metkovic 1 clash.


In the first part of his career, Soldic fought across the major organizations of southeast Europe and recorded victories over MMA veterans including Vaso Bakocevic and Ivica Truscek, despite carrying much less experience than his foes. Before signing with Cage Warriors Fighting Championship, Soldic compiled an 11-2 record, with one of the losses coming due to a narrow split decision to current Bellator MMA 170-pound kingpin Yaroslav Amosov. Along the way, “Robocop” captured the Final Fight Championship and Superior Fighting Championship titles, among others. In spite of his impressive deeds, Soldic was an underdog in his promotional debut against Lewis Long at CWFC 87. It took only 40 seconds and a well-placed head kick to Soldic to silence the doubters and take home his quickest knockout victory in his career, a record that still stands today.


The second part of Soldic’s career started after the Croatian accepted to face the then Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki 170-pound titleholder Borys Mankowski on short notice at KSW 41. Subsequently, Soldic battled with current Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight Dricus Du Plessis, suffering his first stoppage in his career in April 2018 before vindicating that loss with a third-round knockout in October of that year. Soldic went on to defend the 170-pound championship twice before moving up a division to face well-respected veteran and middleweight titleholder Mamed Khalidov. In the KSW 65 headliner, Soldic crushed Khalidov with a tremendous punch that broke his foe’s jaw, becoming the second two-division champion in KSW history after Mateusz Gamrot. Ultimately, Soldic ended his KSW run with an 8-1 promotional record. Now, he is ready to bring his skills to a different market and continent, aiming to mesmerize ONE fans with more finishes.