Keeping up with the weekly streak of Prospect Watch articles, in this instalment we take a closer look at the dangerous Hawaiian; Punahele "Story Time" Soriano. Also, what an awesome nickname.
Punahele only made his professional MMA debut in 2017, and has already cemented himself as one of the best prospects to keep an eye on. The Hawaiian middleweight holds an current undefeated professional record of 7-0, with all but one of those victories coming by way of stoppage. With four knockouts and two submissions to his name, the 27-year-old has proven he can finish fights either standing or on the ground.
As is usually the case now, Soriano entered the UFC through competing on Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series, where he put on an impressive display against Jamie Pickett. This performance earned the Xtreme Couture prospect a UFC contract, and a spot on the UFC 245 card.
"Story Time" had a finished all of his fights leading into DWTNCS, with three coming by way of knockout. There was always a hype surrounding Punahele, however he has certainly flown under the radar more than, let's say, Sean O'Malley. In his first UFC fight, he showed exactly why he should also be expected to do great things.
At UFC 245, Punahele took on four-fight UFC vet Oskar Piechota. This was a difficult fight for his debut on the big stage, as his Polish opponent already had four fights in the promotion, winning two of them. The Wailua native quickly put any concerns to bed, finishing Piechota in the first round with a nasty left hook and follow up strikes to earn the TKO victory. It appeared that middleweight may just have a new contender.
As is the same with the majority of these articles, let's play matchmaker. There are so many great, potential fights at middleweight and the division is currently flourishing and is full from top to bottom with absolute superstars. A potential bout between Soriano and Rodolfo Viera makes the most sense in my eyes, with the pair sharing some eerily similar accolades.
Firstly, they both hold a record of 7-0 and both of their promotional debuts were against Oskar Piechota. The two are also of a similar age, and at the same point in their careers. You may state that Viera's jiu-jitsu world titles set him above Punahele, but I would argue that he still needs to prove himself against a higher level fighter.
This fight makes sense for both participants, and would definitely produce fireworks and an exciting spectacle. Sean Shelby, sign me up.
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