Two-Division KSW Title Holder Roberto Soldic Signs with One Championship

Roberto Soldic: ONE FC is biggest martial arts in the world.#TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/lzu2s0WglN

— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) August 1, 2022

Two-division KSW champion Roberto Soldic has left the Polish promotion to sign with One Championship.

Soldic announced the news on "The MMA Hour" on Monday. Soldic, who held titles at 185 and 170 pounds in KSW, said his decision was motivated in part by the opportunity to compete for belts in other combat sports.

“I chose One because it’s the biggest martial arts promotion in the world," Soldic said. "They give me opportunity to take all the belts: kickboxing world champion, muay Thai world champion, MMA world champion, also boxing world champion. So this makes me something new. I want to create something for my people, for my own legacy. So I chose One for sure.

“After I went to Singapore and I saw the atmosphere with Mr. Chatri [Sityodtong], how he treats the fighters, relationships, and he gave me the best offer. He said to me, ‘You can be a unique fighter and I will give you all the chances to take different belts from combat sports.’ So I do all sports. I want to do something different. … I want to hold the belts from all combat sports. Nobody has done this before. So this is, for me, the biggest challenge.”

Soldic has won his last seven appearances — six via KO or TKO — under the KSW banner. He claimed welterweight gold with a third-round knockout of current UFC talent Dricus Du Plessis in October 2018 and successfully defended the title twice. He became middleweight champion with a second-round knockout of Mamed Khalidov at KSW 65 this past December. He owns a 20-3 mark as a professional overall.

The 27-year-old Croatian revealed that he did receive an offer from the UFC, but it was something he deemed to be “nothing serious.” For “Robocop,” not only did One seem like the more significant challenge, but there’s also something special about the Singapore-based organization’s events.

"It's for me a better opportunity," Soldic said. "It's the biggest promotion in the world. You know what happens to UFC stars when they go to One. They lose, they cannot take the One belt. So this makes me want to be a different fighter. I want to try and take this belt where UFC fighters failed. They don't show up there. When I watched the live ONE show, I see different striking game, grappling game.

"I also went to many UFC events and ONE is something special, something different. True martial arts…”

Soldic doesn’t yet have a date or opponent for his debut, but he plans to compete in One’s lightweight (170 pounds) and welterweight (185 pounds) divisions.