The debuting Roberto Soldic was slow to get into his fight against Khaos Williams tonight at UFC 332, but when he did finally shift up the gears he showed why he’s a former two-division KSW champ with a convincing striking display to win by decision.
Round One
Low leg kicks exchanged to start the fight. Khaos lands another. Kick to the thigh from Soldic.
Body punch for Williams. Big punch from Williams drops Soldic, but he gets up quickly and seems ok.
Nice one-two for Soldic. Jabs for Khaos. Body punch from Soldic. Now a straight left from him. Big left hand down the pipe from Williams now.
Williams with a few straight punches and Soldic lands on the counter. Left hook from Soldic.
Khaos with more straight punches and catches Soldic to put him down again and then another lands behind it. Soldic stands again quickly though.
Soldic wisely decides to switch things up by going for a takedown and is able to land it close to the cage.
Soldic patient on top here in the final minute of the round and only looks for brief moments of ground-and-pound.
Round Two
Low kicks exchanged. Soldic lands the jab. Leg kick for him. Soldic lands another clean punch and avoids Williams power punches in response.
Right hand for Soldic. Now another punch and a high kick attempt behind it as he starts to work his way into the fight.
Soldic goes to the head and then body. Now a head kick that partially got through. Another clean combination connects for Soldic. He tries for the head kick again and it’s blocked this time.
Soldic working well to the head and body and Khaos is fading. Soldic fires out another flurry of accurate punches and Khaos gets wobbled. Soldic able to get him down from that and is now working from side control.
Soldic not going all out for the finish on the mat here and Khaos gets him back to half-guard. Good elbows from Soldic now.
Final 10 seconds of the round and Soldic blasts him with a few hard left hooks. Now he brings the right hand into play and goes to the body too.
Round Three
Inside leg kick from Soldic. Good right hand for Khaos. Power left hand for Soldic. Body kick for Soldic. Head kick attempt from him.
Hard body kick for Soldic. Body punch from Khaos. Inside leg kick. Soldic charging forward with a flurry of punches and Khaos looked a little wobbled by that for a moment.
Soldic still clean and accurate with his boxing here, but Khaos is still looking for the occasional power shot.
Punch for Soldic then clinches up and slickly sweeps out a leg to land a takedown.
Final 90 seconds. Khaos starts to get up with a minute to go, but Soldic pulls him back down. He’s able to flatten him out for a moment, but Khaos rolls and is able to get upright.
10 seconds to go. Soldic backing up looking winded and Khaos tries to unleash a final flurry, but he’s exhausted too and doesn’t connect. Soldic musters the energy to launch a jumping knee but doesn’t connect.
Decision
Williams had a big first round here, dropping his opponent twice, but there was a complete shift in momentum from the second round onwards as Soldic found his range and took control of the striking exchange with crisp combinations to emerge with a unanimous decision victory (29-28, 29-27 x2).
