"Get the gold in ONE Championship" - Roberto Soldic eager to kickstart path to MMA glory by smashing Dagi Arslanaliev in Qatar

There's nothing Roberto Soldic wants more than to taste world championship success on the global stage, and the Croatian knockout machine believes a win at ONE 171: Qatar will help him straighten out that plan.

'Robocop' heads into the Lusail Sports Arena still in search of his maiden win in the organization after his pair of duels against Murad Ramazanov and former ONE welterweight MMA world champion Zebaztian Kadestam.

Though the outcome of both fights forced 'Robocop' to slightly alter his route to Christian Lee's welterweight crown, Roberto Soldic admitted that competing alongside the best will prep him well until the day he gets a shot at his first MMA world title.

Speaking to the Bangkok Post's Nick Atkin before he takes on Dagi Arslanaliev in Qatar, the 30-year-old shared:

"For me, that is my dream, you know, the belt. The title, to get the gold in ONE Championship. You know, we fight on a big stage, in a big league."

The UFD Gym affiliate continued:

"I mean, from the beginning, I had Murad Ramazanov, then I had a former champion, Zebaztian, now Dagi, finisher. So, you know, all tough guys. And that is why I chose ONE Championship. It's a big challenge for me, but my motivation is up there now."

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Roberto Soldic plays down his chances of finishing Dagi Arslanaliev in Qatar

As Roberto Soldic knows, his route to 26 pounds of gold isn't going to be a walk in the park.

Hoping to further ruin his plans is Dagestani-born Turkish superstar Dagi Arslanaliev, who is out to write a new chapter in his ONE Championship campaign.

The 30-year-old fighter spots a 100 percent finishing rate in the promotion, with six first-round finishes against Mishal Alfad, Ma Jia Wen, Jietebusibai Haolan, Timofey Nastyukhin, Ev Ting, and Amir Khan.

On top of that, the Turk has yet to be knocked out in his career.

Given Arslanaliev's iron chin and how the Turk's KO power matches up to his – 17 of Roberto Soldic's 20 wins have come by knockout – he doesn't want to go in for the kill in case that plan suffers a similar fate as it did against Kadestam.

"I don't want to talk about a finish. I just want to go out there and enjoy myself. This is my job, and this is what I do always," he told the Bangkok Post in the same interview.

Watch the full interview here:

ONE 171: Qatar will be available to fight fans via watch.onefc.com on Thursday, February 20. The card emanates live from the Lusail Sports Arena.