Roberto Soldic's return heads trio of big additions to ONE 171 fight card

ONE Championship have added three big bouts to the fight card for ONE 171 in Qatar.

The event, which takes place on Thursday February 20, 2025 at the Lusail Sports Arena, already had a bantamweight kickboxing world title bout as its main event, with England’s Jonathan Haggerty putting his title on the line against China’s No. 1 contender Wei Rui, while Joshua Pacio faces Jarred Brooks in a rematch for the unified ONE strawweight world title.

But those two title fights have been supported with the addition of three more top-drawer matchups.

At welterweight, Croatian wrecking machine Roberto “Robocop” Soldic returns to face former lightweight contender Saygid “Dagi” Arslanaliev, who is moving up a weight class to make a run at gold in a new division.

Former two-division KSW champion Soldic has endured a frustrating start to his ONE Championship career, and heads to Qatar still in search of his first victory under the ONE banner.

His promotional debut at ONE Fight Night 5 in December 2022 ended in a no contest after an accidental groin strike, and things went from bad to worse in his second appearance in May 2023 when he was knocked out in stunning fashion by former ONE welterweight champion Zebaztian Kadestam at ONE Fight Night 10.

Now “Robocop” is back, and he’s gunning for his first ONE Championship win against Arslanaliev, who has a 100 percent finish rate from his nine pro wins. His only career losses have come via disqualification for an illegal kick against Georgi Stoyanov, and to lightweight champion Christian Lee in the final of the ONE Lightweight Grand Prix tournament.

Soldic and Arslanaliev will be joined by former bantamweight champions Bibiano Fernandes and Kevin Belingon, who will face off for the fifth time in their years-long rivalry. The bout will also be Fernandes’ final appearance before he calls it a career.

Also on the card is a featherweight clash as former two-division champion Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen takes on fellow contender Shamil Gasanov.

“We are headed back to Qatar for what will be one of the biggest fight cards of 2025,” said ONE chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong, via press release.

“Three more incredible MMA matchups have been added, highlighted by the return of Roberto Soldic. He will take on a tough opponent in Dagi Arslanaliev in a pivotal welterweight clash.

“Fans will also get to witness the fifth showdown between Bibiano Fernandes and Kevin Belingon in what is one of the greatest rivalries in ONE Championship history, along with surging featherweight contender Shamil Gasanov versus former two-division World Champion Martin Nguyen.

“You don’t want to miss ONE 171: Qatar at Lusail Sports Arena on February 20!”