Roberto Soldić Finally Lands in the UFC — And He's Picked a Fight

Roberto Soldić has spent the better part of a decade wrecking people outside the UFC. Now, at 31, the Bosnian-based knockout artist nicknamed "Robocop" finally gets his shot on the big stage, debuting at UFC 332 on Saturday with a 21-4 record and 18 knockouts to his name. That's an 86% finish rate across 25 fights — numbers that explain why fans of KSW and ONE Championship have been shouting his name for years.

He isn't easing in, either. Soldić drew Khaos Williams, a welterweight with nine KOs of his own and 11 Octagon appearances on a 16-5 ledger. Williams comes in off a first-round knockout of Nikolay Veretennikov, so this is two heavy hitters agreeing to stand in the pocket and see who blinks. Soldić told UFC.com he's healthy, the weight cut is going smoothly, and after five years away from 170 he feels he picked the right moment to arrive.

A Résumé Most Debutants Don't Have

Plenty of fighters show up in the UFC with gaudy regional records and then wilt against real competition. Soldić isn't that. He's knocked out names like Mamed Khalidov, Patrik Kincl, Michal Materla and Dagi Arslanaliev, and he's done it in main events and co-mains in front of crowds of 20,000-plus in Poland, the Philippines and Qatar. He says the pressure of those stadiums is a positive thing, not something to fear.

The headline name on his record, though, is Dricus Du Plessis. The pair traded wins in a 2018 KSW duology — DDP taking the welterweight title first, before Soldić answered with a crushing first-round knockout in the rematch six months later. Du Plessis has since climbed to UFC middleweight contention at 24-3, beating Kamaru Usman in his latest outing. That shared history gives Soldić an obvious reference point for how high his ceiling might be.

The Southpaw Sniper

Soldić fights like his mentor, Mirko Cro Cop: southpaw, thudding left kicks to leg, body and head, and a straight left he aims at the chin. He says he's been to Cro Cop's Zagreb gym to train and still leans on the PRIDE legend for tips. He also name-checks Georges St-Pierre and Gegard Mousasi — the latter a 49-win veteran with 28 KOs — as fighters he's studied.

He respects Williams as a dangerous, finish-hungry opponent who can end things with one touch, so he's promising no mistakes. But Soldić also hinted he's more than a brawler, pointing to his wrestling and jiu-jitsu and suggesting he might even grapple if the moment calls for it. Mostly, though, he's betting on that left hand. He described himself as a sniper who always finds the chin — and against another banger, we won't be waiting long to find out.