Punahele Soriano dropped Dusko Todorovic multiple times in the opening round of their UFC On ABC 1 main card opener en-route to securing a convincing TKO victory.
Round One:
Front kick upstairs from Todorovic, but then Soriano lands a counter punch. They reset and look to exchange again.
A couple of body kicks for Todorovic and then just gets his head out of the way to avoid a hook.
Nice jab from Todorovic. Right hand over the top now as Soriano tries to return fire. Body kick from him. Nice three punch combo now started by a jab.
Body kick for Todorovic but then Soriano catches it and knocks him off-balance. He rights himself and Soriano just misses with a big head kick attempt.
Soriano lands a strike and Todorovic buckled for a moment there, but seems to be ok. They clinch briefly and then separate.
Soriano wings some big hooks that miss. Into the clinch again momentarily. Todorovic looks to punch and Soriano’s counter grazes the target.
Soriano with a straight left. Todorovic lands and Soriano throws several in return.
Todorovic gets dropped by a left hand. He’s trying to get back up as Soriano pours on the pressure. He’s able to stand, but he’s still rocked and wobbles backwards then falls to the mat again.
Todorovic scoots backwards and tries to go for a submission to buy himself some time to get his bearings. He manages to get back up now, but he might still be struggling a bit here.
Soriano lands a big left hand and Todorovic’s mouthpiece flies out as he falls to the mat. He’s in survival mode again, but he’s given a lifeline as the ref stops the action to find his gumshield.
It turns out it’s fallen into a crack at the edge of the Octagon and ref Herb Dean is calling for his second mouthpiece instead. However, though this stoppage is buying him valuable time to recover, Todorovic helpfully reaches down and manages to scoop it back up and then straight back into his mouth so the action can continue.
That doesn’t do Todorovic any favors though as Soriano is right back to pressuring him and yet another left hand sends him crashing to the mat again, and this time the referee has seen enough and waves off the fight, handing Soriano the TKO victory at 4.48mins of the first round.
