Roberto Soldic talks ONE Debut, Till vs. du Plessis, Verdict Scoring, and More
We had the pleasure of a 1-1 exclusive interview with Roberto Soldic ahead of his ONE Championship debut against Murad Ramazanov at ONE on Prime Video 5: De Ridder vs. Malykhin this Friday in Manilla.
Soldic is a former KSW double-champion riding knockout wins over Mamed Khalidov and Patrik Kincl and is currently riding a 7-fight winning streak.
To begin with, we asked him about his next fight against undefeated Dagestani, Murad Ramazanov.
You're next opponent is an undefeated fighter from a very talent-rich area. Many view him as your hardest test yet. Do you agree with that?
"Yeah, for sure. They have different wrestling, different conditioning. I've spent time with the Dagestani and Chechen guys, so I know what's coming. I've gotten used to training with those guys. It's nothing new for me, I know what I can expect from this fight."
"Also, my sparring partners [helped me prepare] like Abus Magomedov, Yaroslav Amosov, Gleison Tibau, you know." - Roberto Soldic talks about his expectations for his next fight and the men helping him.
Next, we asked him a staple question here at Verdict that we like to hear about from all fighters.
What's one thing all fans should know about you? The first thing that comes to mind when people hear the name Roberto Soldic.
"I wanna make something different. A different character of Robocop, [someone] who finishes my opponents. I try to make my whole legacy a collection of belts. That's why I signed to ONE Championship. I always bring good fights and try to be entertaining." - Soldic tells us what he want's fans to know about him.
Soldic has been in many different types of fights. From wild brawls to technical chess matches and grappling. Because of this, we thought he'd be the perfect fighter to ask this next question.
What teaches a fighter the most about themselves? Is it the losses where they're put down and their will to get back up is tested or is it something else?
"The losses, for sure. When people win fights, they don't watch back and see the mistakes they made. When you lose, you always check where you made a mistake and lost."
"When I win, I always check my fights. Like against Michał Pietrzak, in London in 2019, I won that fight by decision. He was really tough. I hit him a lot in the head. In the 2nd round, I had the opportunity to choke him but I didn't because I wanted to knock him out. I don't make this mistake [anymore]. If they survive the rounds, I try to choke them. So it's not only when you lose, but you also need to check [your mistakes] when you win the fight." - Roberto Soldic talks about learning from mistakes in fights you win and lose.
What fight did you learn the most in?
"When I lost to Dricus du Plessis. I lost in the 2nd round, and this fight made me a better fighter. Now I have 7 wins in a row since 2018, and this fight was good for me. I [learned] good lessons. Couple more reasons were the weight cut, I rushed trying to finish and this was not a good game plan." - Soldic tells us that his loss to Dricus du Plessis is what taught him the most, and he credits the 7 wins in a row since then as evidence.
Soldic certainly learned from the first time around as he knocked du Plessis out in their immediate rematch and also moved up in weight. He gave a prediction for Dricus' next fight against Darren Till.
"I think Dricus [wins] because he's a serious, professional guy. He's really tough. I think he's gonna finish him. He's no joke. He's a really tough opponent for anyone. I know him a lot. I've sparred with many guys, I've fought with many guys, but this guy's really, really good. He's dangerous. A really good opponent for anyone now, even the champion. He's strong, has good conditioning, good IQ, everything." - Soldic predicts his old rival's next fight and gives his reasoning behind it.
Finally, we explained to him what we do here at Verdict and how we're revolutionizing judging in MMA.
We described how we sample from tens of thousands of scorecards submitted by the Verdict Community, then average those scorecards out for a final score. As such, it does not end up as an even 10-9 all the time. Rather, a round can be scored as close as it is, perhaps 9.6-9.4. This allows for rounds to be accurately judged and reflects both fighters' efforts instead of just 1. Further, when only three judges are involved, a single error from one of them alters the score of the entire fight.
That's all we have today, make sure to catch Roberto's ONE debut against Murad Ramazanov at ONE on Prime Video 5: De Ridder vs. Malykhin this Friday in Manilla. Let us know your prediction in the comments below!
