Off Guard: Punahele Soriano loves living in Las Vegas next to UFC Performance Institute

LAS VEGAS – Puna Soriano has seen plenty of benefits by kickstarting his UFC career while living in Las Vegas.

The “Dana White’s Contender Series” veteran made good in his UFC debut with a first-round knockout over Oskar Piechota at UFC 245.

And the undefeated Soriano (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) attributes his early success to being based in Vegas, home of the UFC Performance Institute, which he credits for transforming his body.

“Huge difference,” Soriano told MMA Junkie about the UFC PI. “Even just like on my wallet, I’m not buying anything to eat. Everything’s made for me. I can get food sent to me, just like Trifecta meals and all that. Even if you look at my physique from before getting into the UFC to getting into the UFC, I got a lot bigger just from the food, the rehab, everything just right in front of me.

“I do my strength and conditioning in the PI, and every now and then we’ll do mitts and stuff or like a circuit training day over there, but mostly the bulk is done here at Xtreme Couture.”

Soriano saw a slight delay in his promotional debut when he was initially scheduled to take on Adam Yandiev at UFC 242 in September. A knee injury forced Yandiev out of the fight, and the bout was scrapped from the card.

Two months later, Soriano got to make the walk and delivered in spectacular fashion.

“Yeah, there was a little jitters, but almost in a different way like the week and even the warm-up, everything was too good,” Soriano said. “I was a little nervous. I was going to jinx myself. Everything just felt really good and too perfect, but it ended up working out.”

Soriano takes on fellow Las-Vegas based fighter Eric Spicely (12-5 MMA, 4-5 UFC) at UFC on ESPN 8.

“I’ve seen him a few times here and there,” Soriano said. “We haven’t trained together from what I recall, but he’s always seemed like a cool dude.”

UFC on ESPN 8 takes place March 28 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The card streams on ESPN.