“He tends to ignore the wrestling” - Dagi Arslanaliev already sees a hole in ONE 171 opponent Roberto Soldic’s armor

Dagi Arslanaliev provided a brief insight into his game plan for Roberto Soldic.

Later this week, ONE Championship will return to Qatar for ONE 171, a stacked event featuring two world title fights.

Earlier in the night, Arslanaliev is scheduled to fight at welterweight after previously spending his ten-fight promotional tenure at lightweight.

Arslanaliev has been matched up against Soldic, a once-highly sought-after free agent who has yet to find his footing in ONE.

During an interview with ONE, Arslanaliev had this to say about his approach to fighting Soldic:

"I just need to work to tire him out. Preferably not attacking too much because he tends to ignore the wrestling. I mean, he’ll probably try to knock me out. Or maybe not—I don’t know what’s going through his mind."

Dagi Arslanaliev is coming off an extended layoff when he returns at ONE 171: Qatar. The Turkish fighter last fought in December 2021, defeating Timofey Nastyukhin by third-round knockout.

Meanwhile, Roberto Soldic is coming off a second-round knockout loss in May 2023 against Zabaztian Kadestam, who's considered the number-one contender in the welterweight division.

ONE 171 goes down inside the Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail, Qatar.

In the main event, Jarred Brooks looks to upgrade his ONE interim strawweight MMA world title to undisputed status. To do so, Brooks must defeat the division’s king, Joshua Pacio, in a highly-anticipated trilogy bout.

As for the co-main event, Jonathan Haggerty will defend his bantamweight kickboxing world title for the first time against Chinese superstar Wei Rui.

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What's at stake between Dagi Arslanaliev and Roberto Soldic at ONE 171: Qatar?

Dagi Arslanaliev was a longtime contender in the ONE lightweight MMA division, giving him instant credibility in his move up to welterweight.

Therefore, a win against Roberto Soldic could put Arslanaliev close to a title shot against two-sport king Christian Lee.

Arslanaliev already has a history with Lee. In October 2019, Lee defeated Arslanaliev by unanimous decision in the finale of the ONE Lightweight MMA World Grand Prix.

Lee's next fight could be a lightweight rematch against Alibeg Rasulov, with their first fight being a no-contest in December 2024.

Lee previously endured a two-year layoff, giving him added motivation to defend his lightweight and welterweight throne this year.