Roman Kopylov seems to be hitting his stride after securing a second straight finish, this time putting away Punahele Soriano at UFC Vegas 67.
The Russian showed a variety of striking moves, but it was the series of body shots which really hurt Soriano. Soriano was in severe pain after he fell backwards against the cage. Kopylov then surged forward and landed a flurry of punches, forcing the referee not to continue the fight.
The end came at 3:19 in the second round.
” Although it was a rough start, my coach helped me to get straightened up. Kopylov added that afterward. The results speak for themselves.
” With all due respect for my opponent, our concern was only about his backhand so, once we had stopped avoiding it, we realized that we would continue to do our job and win .”
There was no chemistry between middleweights. Soriano was throwing punches and Kopylov, on the other hand, was strategic with his defense before firing back with more stiff shots. Kopylov was also starting to establish a good lead jab that kept tagging Soriano on the outside.
Kopylov was consistently popping Soriano with slick combinations with the Hawaiian looking to throw a a big overhand punch as his counter.
While he had to regard his opponent’s immense power, Kopylov seemed to get more and more comfortable using his straight punches and then even exploding with a spinning back kick that landed right in the midsection. Kopylov began to target the body with punches. This could have done more harm than the kick, as Soriano was already feeling the effects.
With Soriano backing up and holding his midsection, Kopylov really started to unload including another devastating kick to the body that spelled the beginning of the end. Kopylov continued to throw bombs and Soriano was clearly trapped with no chance to escape.
That was more than enough for the referee to stop the fight and save Soriano from further harm as Kopylov picked up a second straight win while also moving his record at 2-2 in the UFC.
Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2023/1/14/23555611/ufc-vegas-67-video-roman-kopylov-punishes-punahele-soriano-nasty-body-shots-leading-to-standing-tko?rand=96749
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