Roberto Soldic expressed confusion over how easily Dricus du Plessis was taken down during his UFC 319 bout against Khamzat Chimaev. The Croatian, who last defeated Du Plessis before the middleweight contender’s recent fight, criticized the preparation of Du Plessis’ wrestling defense ahead of the contest. The match took place on Saturday night, where Chimaev dominated for five rounds to secure a unanimous decision and claim the UFC middleweight title.
Soldic, who faced Du Plessis twice in 2018—losing the first via knockout before winning their rematch—shared his concerns in a Monday interview with Bloody Elbow. He found Du Plessis’ inability to defend takedowns surprising, especially given the importance of wrestling at this level.
“I don’t know what they did in the Dricus fight camp about wrestling,”
Soldic said.
“It was so easy to take him down. You know, he couldn’t defend any takedown. Only in the fifth round, there was a good scramble.”
He added that despite Chimaev’s obvious strength, Du Plessis showed some improvement late in the fight.
“I know Chimaev was very strong, but he worked in the fifth round some scrambles.”
Du Plessis expected to recover from setback
Roberto Soldic remains confident that Du Plessis will recover from this defeat, ending an 11-fight winning streak. The Croatian emphasized Du Plessis’ resilience, pointing to their previous encounters as proof of his opponent’s toughness and ability to bounce back.
“Dricus will be back, for sure,”
Soldic stated.
“He’s a tough, tough guy. He was in this position before with me, and he’ll be back, for sure.”
Soldic’s upcoming boxing match and recent MMA highlights
Roberto Soldic recently earned significant acclaim with a Knockout of the Year candidate against Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev at ONE 171. Since then, he shifted focus from MMA to professional boxing, preparing for a match against the former two-weight world champion Tomasz Adamek.
Adamek, a celebrated Polish boxer and legend, held the WBC light heavyweight title as well as the IBF and The Ring magazine cruiserweight titles before retiring with a 53–6 record in 2018. Recently, Adamek returned to the ring and won a TKO over Mamed Khalidov in February 2024, an opponent Soldic had previously knocked out in MMA.
The Soldic vs. Adamek fight is scheduled for September 6 at FAME 27: KINGDOM in Gliwice, Poland, marking a notable moment in Soldic’s career transition to boxing.