“I was born in war” - Roberto Soldic recalls rough upbringing in Bosnia

Southpaw knockout fighter 'Robocop' Roberto Soldic was born in the toughest of conditions. During the time of his birth, Bosnia and Croatia were at war with Serbia following the breakup of Yugoslavia. It was an armed conflict which ended in a stalemate after three and a half years.

The former two-division KSW world champion was born towards the end of the conflict. In an interview with ONE Championship, Roberto Soldic explained:

"Okay, so I was born in Bosnia and Herzegovina 1995. 1992 to 1995 was the war in Bosnia. So I was born almost as the war was finished, but I was born in war."

It was not an easy situation for his family living in the region. He continued:

"Like every war, it was a very hard, very tough life, and a very poor situation. Industry goes down. My family, thank God, they live still. My father was on the front line. I watched the videos, all the things were very hard."

Soldic would later find solace in martial arts. He has begun building an impressive legacy that his family can be proud of. The Croatian striker has won the majority of his fights by way of KO/TKO, and held the welterweight and middleweight world titles in KSW before signing with ONE Championship.

'Robocop' is booked for his promotional debut at ONE on Prime Video 5. The event broadcasts live on Friday, December 2, and is free for fans in the United States and Canada with an Amazon Prime subscription.

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Roberto Soldic describes his journey into MMA

Young Roberto Soldic struggled to focus at school, but found inspiration in combat sports when he was growing up.

In an exclusive interview with ONE Championship, the Croatian fighter explained the situation:

“They kicked me out from the school two times because I was really hyperactive, and I didn’t have patience for sitting for six hours a day. It really was hard for me. I always needed to move, and I was a little bit problematic.”

However, he found his way to combat sports at it changed his life. He continued:

"And when I started to hit pads, I saw this was for me from day one. I just loved it. I tried to do judo to put into mixed martial arts, I hit the bag, and then did strength and conditioning. It was just old school.”

Roberto Soldic concluded by saying:

"I kept going. I knew that I would make something [of myself]. I didn’t know how to do anything else. I just knew how to fight.”