Roberto Soldic and Khaos Williams, UFC 332 ceremonial weigh-in Credit: Youtube/UFC
Former KSW double-champ Roberto Soldic was one of the bigger UFC signings this year, after a brief stint with ONE Championship.
On Saturday at UFC 332, Soldic, who is 1-1 in his career series with ex-UFC champ Dricus Du Plessis, made his octagon debut in a welterweight fight with Khaos Williams.
Williams entered off a win over Nikolay Veretennikov; Soldic, who held gold in KSW at both welterweight and middleweight, had last competed in MMA in February 2025, knocking out Dagi Arslanaliev. That said, he’d also won a boxing match in the interim.
Soldic opened the fight attacking the legs with heavy kicks, but Williams quickly returned fire with leg kicks of his own. When Williams committed to his hands, he caught Soldic with a glancing right hook that sat him down. Soldic responded with a sharp left hook to the body before Williams connected with a clean one-two. Soldic looked a little stiff early, whiffing on a combination, while Williams appeared to be the quicker fighter with the better timing. Another right hand briefly dropped Soldic, but Soldic continued finding success with the left hook to the body. With about a minute remaining, Soldic completed a fairly easy single-leg takedown, though nothing significant came from it before the round ended.
Soldic came out much sharper in the second, opening with a pair of body kicks and quickly finding his rhythm. He was seeing Williams’ punches much better and started taking over the striking exchanges. Soldic landed a huge left head kick followed by a beautiful one-two to the body and head. Soon after, another nasty body-head combination nearly took Williams off his feet. Soldic was feeling himself at that point, forcing Williams into heavy retreat and hurting him again with another combination. Williams eventually accepted bottom position, seemingly trying to clear his head. From side control, Soldic stayed active with heavy left hands and elbows. Williams absorbed a lot of damage but showed his toughness and survived to the final round.
Soldic cracked Williams with a left hand about 30 seconds into the third. Williams looked tentative, and his offense became increasingly telegraphed. Soldic looked a little labored, but he kept finding his shots. When he pressed forward, he landed a multi-punch combination that nearly knocked Williams’ mouthpiece out. The body-head combinations continued, and there were several moments when it looked like Williams might finally go down, but he kept showing incredible toughness. Rather than force the finish, Soldic eventually took the safer route and scored an easy takedown. Williams worked to his knees but gave up his back in the process. He managed to scramble back to his feet late, but there wasn’t enough time left to mount any offense before the final bell.
Outside of the first round, Soldic had cruised through the fight, and the scorecards reflected just that. Two judges awarded Soldic a 10-8 in the second round.
Official Result: Roberto Soldic def. Khaos Williams by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)