Dagi Arslanaliev highlights Roberto Soldic's biggest weakness ahead of ONE 171 showdown: “He can be quite passive”

Dagi Arlsanaliev believes he's already spotted Robert Soldic's biggest weakness.

The Dagestani-born Turk returns to martial arts' biggest stage on Thursday, February 20 for a highly anticipated clash with the Croatian knockout artist at ONE 171: Qatar inside the Lusail Sports Arena.

Arslanaliev and Soldic have an incredible 24 career KOs between them, 17 of them coming from Soldic alone. But despite that staggering stat, the former believes he's found a pretty big hole in the former KSW star's fight game.

“He doesn’t wrestle much and avoids the fight at times. I’ve watched his bouts — he can be quite passive,” Arslanaliev told ONE Championship during a recent interview.

ONE 171 will be Arslanaliev's first time competing in MMA since scoring a third-round knockout over Timofey Nastyukhin at ONE: Winter Warriors.

Overall, he is 9-2 with his last loss coming against current two-division ONE world champion Christian Lee in 2019.

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Robert Soldic returns to fight Dagi Arslanaliev after nearly two years on the shelf

While Robert Soldic won't be returning from as long as a layoff as his opponent, it's been nearly two years since the Croatian has stepped foot inside the Circle.

After signing with ONE Championship in 2022 to much fanfare, Soldic's promotional debut ended prematurely.

Just over two minutes into his clash with Murad Ramazanov at ONE on Prime Video 5, the bout was halted due to an accidental low blow that ultimately resulted in the fight being called off.

'Robocop' returned five months later for a showdown with former ONE welterweight MMA world champion Zebaztian Kadestam at ONE Fight Night 10.

Despite his best effort, Soldic came up short against the Swede, suffering a vicious knockout at the 45-second mark of the second round.

Will Soldic finally break through and score his first win inside the Circle, or will Dagi Arslanaliev remind the world why he is one of ONE Championship's most dangerous fighters?

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.