Hawaii’s Punahele Soriano joins UFC Columbus, where he’ll face TUF veteran Eric Spicely in middleweight action.
Contender Series veteran Punahele Soriano has his sophomore outing in the octagon set. MMA Junkie was first to report that the Hawaiian will face Ultimate Fighter 23 alum Eric Spicely at UFC Columbus. The event, a.k.a. UFC on ESPN 8, takes place this coming March.
Soriano (7-0) made his debut last month at UFC 245 in Las Vegas. There, he picked up his first win in the promotion with a first-round knockout of Oskar Piechota. ‘Story Time’ punched his ticket to the big show with a unanimous decision over Jamie Pickett on the Contender Series last year, after fighting for the likes of LFA and Titan FC.
Eric Spicely (12-5) is currently on his second stint with the UFC. The New England area fighter, a mainstay with CES MMA, went 2-4 his first time around, after joining the promotion off his TUF 23 run. After a pair of fights back under the CES banner, he returned to the octagon last June at UFC Greenville in South Carolina against Deron Winn. Despite losing a unanimous decision, Spicely did get to share in the Fight of the Night honors.
UFC Columbus (UFC on ESPN 8) takes place March 28, 2020 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. A heavyweight slugfest between Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Francis Ngannou headlines. The card currently breaks down as follows:
Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
Raphael Assuncao vs. Cody Garbrandt
Greg Hardy vs. Yorgan de Castro
Sam Alvey vs. Khalil Rountree Jr.
Louis Smolka vs. Davey Grant
Tecia Torres vs. Mizuki Inoue
Randy Costa vs. Martin Day
Punahele Soriano vs. Eric Spicely
