ONE 171: Roberto Soldic sends opponent through the air with one-punch KO

Croatian knockout artist Roberto Soldic produced one of the most jaw-dropping knockouts of 2025 so far as he returned to action in spectacular fashion at ONE 171 in Qatar.

Soldic is a protege of Croatian fighting legend Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, who during his peak years was one of the most feared fighters on the planet.

Famed for his head-kick KOs, Cro Cop, whose chilling moniker was "Right leg, hospital. Left leg, cemetery," laid waste to the heavyweight division in Japan's PRIDE Fighting Championships as he captured the promotion's openweight Grand Prix title back in 2006.

Soldic has followed in the footsteps of Cro Cop and, fighting under the moniker of "Robocop," he's showed a similar penchant for spectacular KOs.

Soldic became a big name on the European MMA scene, where he became the welterweight champion for Polish promotion KSW.

From October 2016 to December 2017, Soldic tore through the opposition, finishing all seven of his opponents in that run via knockout or TKO to eventually capture the KSW welterweight title.

He was surprisingly stopped by current UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis in his first title defense, but he avenged that loss with a crushing third-round knockout of Du Plessis in the rematch in London.

"Robocop's" penchant for finishes has seen him claim 18 of his 21 victories by knockout, with his most recent finish, at ONE 171 in Qatar, arguably the most spectacular of the lot.

This past weekend, Soldic faced Russian-Turkish finisher Dagi Arslanaliev in a welterweight bout between two of ONE Championship's most dangerous finishers. And, after taking his time to assess his aggressive opponent, Soldic waited for Arslanaliev to throw a body kick, then detonated a huge left hook that sent Arslanaliev flying through the air and left him unconscious, face-down, on the canvas.

It was as spectacular as it was devastating, as co-commentator Mitch Chilson declared that Soldic had given his opponent "a one-way ticket to the shadow realm."

After his highlight-reel victory, Soldic immediately set his sights on the ONE welterweight title.

"I'm coming for the belt," he declared.

"When I'm like this, nobody can beat me. Nobody. If I'm good, nobody can beat this 'Robocop.'"

After a knockout like that, it's hard to disagree.

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Croatian MMA star Roberto Soldic sends opponent through the air with colossal one-punch KO at ONE 171

By Simon Head | 7:55 AM EST