In a matchup between two undefeated prospects, Punahele Soriano isn’t putting any pressure on himself.
Soriano (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) faces Dusko Todorovic (10-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) on Jan. 16 at UFC Fight Night on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi.
Someone’s zero on their unblemished record will have to go, but for Soriano, the performance is the only thing that matters.
“I never really put much emphasis into being undefeated,” Soriano told MMA Junkie Radio. “Of course it’s great, but I’ve lost so many times in my athletic career, wrestling in high school and wrestling in college. I lost probably 100 times maybe, I don’t know. But I can lose just as good as I can win. I’ll take it on the chin, but I’m here to win. I go out there to break guys, put the gas pedal on, and every fight I’m here to win.”
He continued, “I feel like I’m kind of in the middle. I don’t necessarily think ‘Oh, it’s gonna happen,’ and I don’t think ‘I gotta stay undefeated.’ I’m in the middle. I just focus on my training, make sure I’m the best fighter I’m gonna be for that date. I just feel that, as long as come fight day, I’m the man that day, nothing else matters.”
Since punching his ticket to the UFC through Dana White’s Contender Series in 2019, Soriano picked up a first-round knockout of Oskar Piechota later that year in December. However, a few injuries put a brief halt on his momentum, sidelining him for all of 2020.
UFC’s Punahele Soriano doesn’t ‘put much emphasis into being undefeated’