October 3, 2026 · Delta Center, Salt Lake City, United States
Soldic
21-4-0 (1 NC)
Unranked (debut)Croatia | 31 years old
Williams
16-5-0
UnrankedSouth Bend, USA | 32 years old
Robocop Steps Into the Octagon
Soldic brings 18 knockouts in 21 wins and KSW gold. Williams brings 11 UFC fights and has never been stopped by strikes. Nobody knows yet what 19 months on the shelf will cost.
Conviction
Conviction 4. What puts Soldic above 50% is two precedents that answer part of Williams' core arguments: he came back from about 21 months out and flatlined Arslanaliev in round 1, and at KSW 65 he knocked out a Khalidov who, per LowKickMMA, was suffering only the second knockout loss of his 45-fight career. They transfer only partially. Both come from other leagues and Khalidov was 41. The Arslanaliev return happened inside ONE, while this one comes with a UFC debut, a contract that expired in May and a stretch he described as feeling semi-retired. And neither answers Soldic's own two knockout losses or Williams' 11 UFC fights. Without them this is a coin flip. The access pillar is weak: Williams' 5.34 is a career number that doesn't isolate the pocket, and Soldic's knockout frequency doesn't measure strength of opposition. His entire sample comes from outside the UFC, with three fights since 2021 and 590 days out. Williams' side rests on never having been stopped by strikes and on activity, but he also gets hit a lot. There's no UFCStats data on Soldic, so the statistical comparison is incomplete. This is a sporting read, made without odds.
Conviction 4. What puts Soldic above 50% is two precedents that answer part of Williams' core arguments: he came back from about 21 months out and flatlined Arslanaliev in round 1, and at KSW 65 he knocked out a Khalidov who, per LowKickMMA, was suffering only the second knockout loss of his 45-fight career. They transfer only partially. Both come from other leagues and Khalidov was 41. The Arslanaliev return happened inside ONE, while this one comes with a UFC debut, a contract that expired in May and a stretch he described as feeling semi-retired. And neither answers Soldic's own two knockout losses or Williams' 11 UFC fights. Without them this is a coin flip. The access pillar is weak: Williams' 5.34 is a career number that doesn't isolate the pocket, and Soldic's knockout frequency doesn't measure strength of opposition. His entire sample comes from outside the UFC, with three fights since 2021 and 590 days out. Williams' side rests on never having been stopped by strikes and on activity, but he also gets hit a lot. There's no UFCStats data on Soldic, so the statistical comparison is incomplete. This is a sporting read, made without odds.
THE DECIDING FACTOR
Knockout Volume Meets a Man Never Stopped by Strikes
His last time out, Soldic flatlined Arslanaliev with the left at 1:55 of the first. Against Kadestam, per Cageside Press, he controlled the center with the left and dominated round 1, but the recap describes no damage to Kadestam, and Soldic was the one who got dropped and stopped in round 2. That's based on written recaps, not film we watched, so it doesn't prove this is the only way he wins. On the other side, Williams absorbs 5.34 significant strikes per minute in the UFC with 41% striking defense. That's a career number that mixes distance, clinch and ground exposure against different opponents: it says he's hittable, but it doesn't isolate how much he eats in the pocket. Soldic's problem is what happens if the first wave doesn't land. Williams has never been stopped by strikes in 21 pro fights. Soldic has been stopped twice: by Du Plessis in 2018 and by Kadestam in 2023, who caught him with an elbow early in round 2 after Soldic had gotten the better of the first, dropped him several times and ended it at 0:45. Stack 590 days out and an Octagon debut on top of that, and Soldic has the higher knockout rate but very little margin for getting caught. The sources don't tell us whether he'll shoot for takedowns, because there's no documented history of it, so we treat his wrestling as unknown.
His last time out, Soldic flatlined Arslanaliev with the left at 1:55 of the first. Against Kadestam, per Cageside Press, he controlled the center with the left and dominated round 1, but the recap describes no damage to Kadestam, and Soldic was the one who got dropped and stopped in round 2. That's based on written recaps, not film we watched, so it doesn't prove this is the only way he wins. On the other side, Williams absorbs 5.34 significant strikes per minute in the UFC with 41% striking defense. That's a career number that mixes distance, clinch and ground exposure against different opponents: it says he's hittable, but it doesn't isolate how much he eats in the pocket. Soldic's problem is what happens if the first wave doesn't land. Williams has never been stopped by strikes in 21 pro fights. Soldic has been stopped twice: by Du Plessis in 2018 and by Kadestam in 2023, who caught him with an elbow early in round 2 after Soldic had gotten the better of the first, dropped him several times and ended it at 0:45. Stack 590 days out and an Octagon debut on top of that, and Soldic has the higher knockout rate but very little margin for getting caught. The sources don't tell us whether he'll shoot for takedowns, because there's no documented history of it, so we treat his wrestling as unknown.
Truth A
Williams has 11 UFC fights, fought in May, owns a 77-inch reach and has never been stopped by strikes. With six Octagon knockdowns, he's got the pop to drop a Soldic who has been stopped twice, most recently by Kadestam in 2023.
Truth B
Soldic has 18 knockouts in 21 wins, beat Du Plessis in KSW in 2018 and Khalidov in 2021, and flatlined Arslanaliev in under two minutes his last time out. Williams, meanwhile, absorbs 5.34 significant strikes per minute across his UFC career.
Tale of the Tape
Soldic's height varies by source (178 cm on Sherdog, 180 cm elsewhere)
Soldic's reach is unofficial (73 to 74 inches depending on the source). Williams is longer either way
Current Form
Roberto Soldic
ONE 171. Came back from about 21 months out and put the Turkish fighter to sleep with the left in round 1.
KO R1ONE Fight Night 10. Got the better of round 1 with the left, per Cageside Press, then ate an elbow early in round 2, got dropped several times and was stopped at 0:45.
TKO R2ONE debut. An accidental knee to the groin at 2:01 of round 1 ended it as a no contest.
No Contest R1KSW 65. Knocked out Khalidov at 3:40 of round 2 to take the middleweight belt and become a two-division KSW champion.
KO R2KSW 63. Stopped Kincl with punches at 2:55 of round 3.
TKO R3The last snapshot looks great: he found the left and flatlined Dagi Arslanaliev at 1:55 of the first round in February 2025. The bigger picture is shakier. Since December 2021 he's fought only three times in ONE, with a knockout loss to Kadestam and a no contest off a groin strike. His contract ran out in May, and he walks into his UFC debut roughly 19 months removed from his last fight. We found no dated reporting on his camp, weight cut or injuries.
Khaos Williams
UFC Fight Night 276. Closed the distance with a left-right, sent Veretennikov stumbling into the fence and finished it with ground strikes.
TKO R1UFC 316. Per Sherdog, Gustafsson stepped in as a replacement with a little over a week to go. He pinned Williams to the fence with knees to the body and landed three takedowns in round 2. 30-27, 30-26, 30-26.
Unanimous DecisionUFC Vegas 102. Bonfim chopped the lead leg, took him down, got to mount and put him to sleep with a D'Arce at 4:58 of round 2. First stoppage loss of his career.
Sub R2Knocked out Carlston Harris with one punch at 1:30 of round 1.
KO R1UFC 288. High-volume slugfest, 130 significant strikes landed, and a razor-thin nod on the cards.
Split DecisionSnapped a two-fight skid with a first-round TKO of Nikolay Veretennikov at 3:31 in May. The two losses before that played out differently: Gabriel Bonfim chopped the lead leg, took him down, got to mount and choked him out with a D'Arce, while Andreas Gustafsson ground out a decision with knees to the body against the fence and three takedowns in round 2. He's 7-4 across 11 UFC fights and comes in on about four and a half months of rest.
Level of Competition
No common opponents, and the samples come from different leagues. Soldic made his name in KSW, beating Dricus du Plessis in 2018 and an aging Mamed Khalidov in 2021, then fought just three times in ONE. Williams has 11 UFC fights against the middle of the welterweight pack, with no verified ranked opponents in his recent window. The opponent average is a simple mean of the editorial ratings for the five recent fights listed above: 2.6 for Soldic (3, 3, 2, 3 and 2) and 2.2 for Williams (2, 2, 3, 2 and 2). Each rating was assigned within its own league, so the gap between the averages doesn't mean Soldic faced stronger opposition. Neither level converts cleanly into the other, and that cuts both ways.
Statistical Comparison
Sig. Strikes Landed per Min
Soldic: UFC debut, no official data
Soldic is debuting, so there's no UFCStats data on him
Sig. Strikes Absorbed per Min
Soldic: UFC debut, no official data
Williams throws a lot and gets hit a lot
Striking Accuracy (%)
Soldic: UFC debut, no official data
Striking Defense (%)
Soldic: UFC debut, no official data
Knockdowns per 15 Min (UFC.com)
Soldic: UFC debut, no official data
Six knockdowns in 11 UFC fights
Takedown Defense (%)
Soldic: UFC debut, no official data
Bonfim and Gustafsson both got him down
Takedown Accuracy (%)
Soldic: UFC debut, no official data
Sample size: Williams: 2
Williams has attempted just two takedowns in 11 UFC fights
Submission Attempts per 15 Min
Soldic: UFC debut, no official data
Soldic leads in 0 categories · Williams leads in 0
Win & Loss Distribution
Wins
KO/TKO
Submission
Decision
Soldic is about as pure a knockout artist as it gets: 18 of his 21 wins came by strikes and only two went to the cards. Williams hits hard too, with nine knockouts, but he's also won six times on the cards. ESPN documents striking volume for both of his UFC decision wins: 130 of 283 significant strikes against Bedoya and 91 of 260 against Semelsberger. His four regional decision wins have no volume captured in the sources we reviewed.
Losses
KO/TKO
Submission
Decision
Here's the tension. Williams has never lost by knockout: four decisions and one submission, the Bonfim choke. Soldic has been knocked out twice, by Du Plessis in 2018 and Kadestam in 2023, and has two decision losses. None of that proves Soldic will go down or that Williams can't be finished. The sources we reviewed don't describe how the Du Plessis loss happened. The Kadestam loss came off an elbow early in round 2, after Soldic had gotten the better of round 1.
Skills Profile
Soldic
vs
Williams
Knockout Power
+2 Soldic
Soldic has 18 knockouts in 21 wins to Williams' 9 in 16. Soldic's came in KSW, ONE and the regional scene, while Williams built his against the middle of the UFC welterweight pack. Those samples don't convert cleanly, so the edge here is knockout frequency, not strength of opposition.
Range Striking
Even
Per Cageside Press, Soldic controlled the center with his left hand in round 1 against Kadestam. Williams has the reach, and against Veretennikov he closed the distance behind a left-right. Those are written recaps of single fights, not film we watched, so they don't define either man's pattern.
Chin & Durability
+1 Williams
Williams has never been stopped by strikes in 21 fights, but he eats 5.34 significant strikes per minute. Soldic has been stopped twice and got dropped repeatedly by Kadestam in round 2.
Wrestling & Clinch
Even
Williams' two losses before Veretennikov looked different. Gustafsson pinned him to the fence with knees to the body and landed three takedowns in round 2. Bonfim chopped the lead leg, took him down, took his back, got to mount and finished with a D'Arce. Soldic has no documented takedown game in the sources we reviewed, so that route is unknown, not absent.
Activity & UFC Experience
+2 Williams
Williams fought in May and has 11 trips to the Octagon. Soldic is coming off 590 days out and has fought only three times since December 2021.
This is power against power. Soldic has the higher knockout count. Williams has never been stopped by strikes, and he has the reach and the rhythm of a guy who fought in May. The core question isn't technical, it's situational: how much of that 19-month layoff shows up in the opening minutes.
Final Prediction
The Thesis
Conviction4/10The thesis is: Roberto Soldic wins because two of his results answer part of Williams' two best arguments. He came back from about 21 months out and flatlined Arslanaliev at 1:55 of the first, and at KSW 65 he knocked out a Khalidov who, per LowKickMMA, was suffering only the second knockout loss of his 45-fight career. Neither covers everything: that return came inside ONE, while this one is a UFC debut after a contract that ran out in May and a stretch where he said he felt semi-retired; Khalidov was 41; and none of it answers Soldic's own two knockout losses or Williams' 11 UFC fights. The knockout frequency, 18 in 21 wins, and the 5.34 significant strikes Williams absorbs per minute in the UFC are secondary support, since they don't measure strength of opposition or isolate the pocket.
The thesis is: Roberto Soldic wins because two of his results answer part of Williams' two best arguments. He came back from about 21 months out and flatlined Arslanaliev at 1:55 of the first, and at KSW 65 he knocked out a Khalidov who, per LowKickMMA, was suffering only the second knockout loss of his 45-fight career. Neither covers everything: that return came inside ONE, while this one is a UFC debut after a contract that ran out in May and a stretch where he said he felt semi-retired; Khalidov was 41; and none of it answers Soldic's own two knockout losses or Williams' 11 UFC fights. The knockout frequency, 18 in 21 wins, and the 5.34 significant strikes Williams absorbs per minute in the UFC are secondary support, since they don't measure strength of opposition or isolate the pocket.
The path is running the center, the way the recap describes his round 1 against Kadestam, and landing early. It falls apart if 590 days of inactivity dull his timing, if Williams, who has never been stopped by strikes, holds up through the early bombs and drags it to the cards, or if he lands first with the heavy hands that have dropped six UFC opponents.
What Breaks This Pick
- 01
If Soldic's reads look slow after 590 days out and Williams wins the early exchanges, the power edge stops mattering.
- 02
If Williams eats clean lefts from Soldic without getting stopped, as he never has been in 21 fights, this becomes a long firefight and a near coin flip.
- 03
We found no dated reporting on Soldic's weight cut or camp. He's a former KSW welterweight champion, so 170 isn't new territory, but if the weigh-ins or fight-week news turn up a problem, this read has to be redone.
- 04
If Soldic brings takedowns or clinch work, which the sources don't document, his win could come along the lines of what Gustafsson and Bonfim did, and the knockout stops being the most likely method.
Underdog Path
Williams survives the start, uses his reach to avoid standing in front of Soldic's left and lands the heavy hands that have dropped six UFC opponents, or goes the distance and takes it on the cards.
Required Conditions
- Don't stand still in front of Soldic's left in round 1
- Absorb whatever clean shots land without getting stopped, as he never has been by strikes in 21 pro fights
- Land clean when the openings come, the way he has on six UFC knockdowns
- Win the rounds on the cards if the knockout doesn't come
— Precedent: Kadestam vs Soldic (ONE Fight Night 10, May 2023): per Cageside Press, Kadestam got the worst of round 1, caught the Croatian with an elbow early in round 2, dropped him several times and won by knockout at 0:45. It's a different opponent in a different league, so it doesn't transfer directly, but it shows Soldic getting stopped right after a round he won.
Verdict
Winner
Roberto Soldic
Method
KO/TKO
Most likely winner
Roberto Soldic wins
Soldic has already come back from a longer layoff with a first-round knockout, and he has knocked out a Khalidov who, per LowKickMMA, had only one prior knockout loss. That answers part of Williams' activity and durability edges, not all of them: that return came inside ONE, this one is a UFC debut after an expired contract and a stretch he described as feeling semi-retired, and none of it offsets Soldic's own two knockout losses. His knockout frequency and Williams' strikes-absorbed number, which doesn't isolate the pocket, are secondary support. The uncertainty is high: 590 days out, an Octagon debut, two knockout losses, and a Williams who has never been stopped by strikes. That's why the edge is small.
Stats That Matter
ZERO
knockout losses for Williams across 21 pro fights
Four decision losses and one submission, the Bonfim choke
5.34
significant strikes absorbed per minute by Williams in the UFC
A career number that includes clinch and ground work: he's hittable, but it doesn't isolate the pocket
590
days Soldic will have been out by fight night
And just three fights since December 2021
COLISEUM - Statistical and tactical analysis. Data sourced from ufcstats.com and public sources.
Roberto "Robocop" Soldic vs Khaos Williams | UFC 332: Silva vs. Wang | October 3, 2026 | Delta Center, Salt Lake City, United States
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