Punahele Soriano will go into the record books as the first fighter to win a UFC bout on ABC, and he did so in emphatic fashion.
In the first UFC meeting of undefeated fighters since Israel Adesanya defeated Paulo Costa at UFC 253, Soriano (8-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) was a buzzsaw, dropping Dusko Todorovic over and over before their UFC on ABC 1 middleweight main-card opener was waved off at the 4:48 mark of the opening round Saturday.
Soriano pushed a fast pace from the outset and didn’t hold back on putting everything into his punches. Todorovic (10-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) did his best to use low kicks to try to establish range. But Soriano paid them no mind, as he waded in and landed big left hands over and over.
Several times, those lefts led to knockdowns. Todovoric kept getting back up. Late in the round, Todovoric got a breather when his mouthpiece got stuck between the bottom of the fence and the canvas. But it was to no avail, as Soriano once again landed a left for an unofficial fourth knockdown, and that time, referee Herb Dean called off the fight.
“I expected that exact fight,” Soriano said in his post-fight interview. “He hit me with some good shots and was kicking me no matter how hard I hit him. He was still focused and still trying to hit back.”
UFC on ABC 1 took place Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The main card aired on ABC and ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN+.
You can check out Soriano’s handiwork in the videos below:
PUNA!!! 🤯
That's how you start the main card!
[ #UFCFightIsland7 continues on @ABCNetwork & #ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/Hh1wbStskd
— UFC (@ufc) January 16, 2021
HOW IS HE TAKING THESE HITS!?! #UFCFightIsland7 pic.twitter.com/cYY8dQpiuw
— UFC (@ufc) January 16, 2021
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ABC 1 results include:
- Punahele Soriano def. Dusko Todorovic via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:48
- Joselyne Edwards def. Wu Yanan via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Carlos Felipe def. Justin Tafa via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Ramazan Emeev def. David Zawada via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Vanessa Melo def. Sarah Moras via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Austin Lingo def. Jacob Kilburn via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
