Punahele Soriano critical of performance despite moving to 3-0 at welterweight
UFC 320 winner Punahele Soriano spoke to MMA Junkie and reporters post-fight after his unanimous decision victory over Nikolay Veretennikov
LAS VEGAS – Punahele Soriano met with MMA Junkie and other media members Saturday after his win over Nikolay Veretennikov at UFC 320.
Soriano (12-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) outworked Veretennikov (13-7 MMA, 1-3 UFC) for a unanimous decision on the prelims at T-Mobile Arena. Soriano won for the third straight time since he moved to welterweight from middleweight.
But he said his win wasn’t the type he was looking for.
“I’m embarrassed for all the people who had to watch me fight like that,” Soriano said. “That’s not the way I fight. I normally go out there and bang, put on cool performances. Maybe the pressure got to me or something. I don’t know. … It just didn’t feel good.”
Soriano said he thought during his fight camp that a good win would let him come out and jokingly ask to be next in line for the welterweight title, but his performance wasn’t one he could even rib about.
“There’s no way I can say that now … not even as a goof,” Soriano said. “I’m just going to try to find a way to make myself happy tonight and enjoy the win.”
Check out Soriano’s post-fight interview in the video above.
