Though the victory didn’t send shockwaves through the division or the fan base, it was a critical effort for the 33-year-old dark horse.
“It meant a lot to me,” Soriano said. “It was a crazy-hard fight, and I feel like I leveled up mid-fight. I remember coming out of the second round — the round is crazy competitive and the round ends with me getting mounted; we both get up and I laughed like, ‘Man, I’m having fun!’ I feel like I learned that mindset brings out the best in me. The third round continued to get better, and I just realized I was having fun and continued to enjoy the moment.”
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Ahead of that contest with Brahimaj, Soriano talked about how in the fight with Veretennikov, he felt like he fought down to his level of competition, explaining it was something he experienced throughout his collegiate wrestling career as well. The antidote to that, he said, was getting paired up with individuals he views as scary, noting that he was afraid of Brahimaj for the entirety of his training camp and that propelled him to a new level.
Once they were in there, Soriano found the drive needed to navigate a competitive first half of the fight and grind out a win, and now, he’s ready to step in with another individual that brought out the same intensity and focus in him throughout training camp.
