Dagi Arslanaliev confident a ‘simple’ plan is all he needs to finish Roberto Soldic: “I’ll do my best to make it happen”

Dagi Arslanaliev has a very simple plan for his highly anticipated return to the Circle.

On Thursday, February 20, ONE Championship heads back to the Middle East for ONE 171: Qatar inside the Lusail Sports Arena. In the main event of the evening, ONE bantamweight kickboxing world champion Jonathan Haggerty will put his 26 pounds of gold on the line against former K-1 lightweight titleholder Wei Rui.

But first, fight fans will see the long-awaited returns of Turkish sensation Dagi Arslanaliev and Croatian powerhouse Roberto Soldic as the two knockout artists are set to do battle on martial arts' biggest global stage.

With 17 career KOs to his credit, Soldic has proven himself to be one of the most dangerous men in all of MMA. Even so, Arslanaliev is confident that he'll come out on top against the former two-division KSW champ by deploying a very simple game plan inside the Circle.

“My plan is simple – to work off my opponent, capitalize on his mistakes, and keep active the whole time," he told the promotion during a recent interview. "If the finish comes early, I’ll do my best to make it happen.”

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Both Dagi Arslanaliev and Roberto Soldic looking to make a statement in their returns to action at ONE 171: Qatar

ONE 171 will see Dagi Arslanaliev compete in MMA under the ONE Championship banner for the first time since scoring a third-round TKO over Timofey Nastyukhin at ONE: Winter Warriors.

Since then, he's made one appearance inside the Circle, competing in a submission grappling match with ONE world champion Tye Ruotolo.

Meanwhile, Soldic will be making his first promotional appearance after coming up short in his first two outings.

Soldic's debut at ONE on Prime Video 5 against Russian standout Murad Ramazanov came to a crashing halt just past the two-minute mark due to an inadvertent low blow.

The bout was ultimately ruled a no-contest. Five months later, 'Robocop' returned for a clash with former ONE welterweight MMA world champion Zebaztian Kadestam at ONE Fight Night 10.

Roberto Soldic suffered a brutal second-round KO, depriving him of his first win inside the Circle.

He'll try to set things right when he steps back inside the cage against the always dangerous Arslanaliev in Qatar.

ONE 171: Qatar will emanate from the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar on Thursday, February 20. Head over to watch.onefc.com to learn more about how you can watch the event live.