Las Vegas, NV — Lightweight Joe Solecki did his best impression of a human backpack at UFC Vegas 7.
The Contender Series veteran picked up his second win inside the octagon Saturday, thanks to a standing rear-naked choke submission of Austin Hubbard. The rarely seen finish had Solecki climb Hubbard’s back as he might a tree, latch on with a body lock, and force the former LFA champion to tap rather than topple over.
Solecki improved to 10-2 overall thanks to the finish, in a bout that was promoted to the main card after Ovince Saint Preux was forced out of the event due to a positive COVID-19 test.
“Styles make fights,” Solecki said of his performance following the event. “He’s probably going to have a great run.” Noting that he’s in a division full of sharks, one of the deepest in the UFC, Solecki doesn’t have a name in mind for what’s next. He’s more focused on just working, and the pending birth of his daughter.
“We’re working during the pandemic, so I’ve got to thank Dana White and the UFC no matter what,” he said. “This whole experience has been unbelievable. A well-oiled machine, and I’m very fortunate to be working right now when a lot of people aren’t.”
“I’m going to get on that plane tomorrow, go home, hug my family. And then I’m going to watch my baby girl be born, I’m going to be training before, during, and after,” Solecki added. “Then we’ll get right back to whatever the UFC wants.”
Not specific names, not fighting for a better contract. That’s not Solecki’s style. “I’m here to work, I’m just grateful for the opportunity,” he said. “That may sound cliche, but that’s what I do, I take the opportunities and try to run with them.”
UFC Vegas 7 itself was an example of that. Solecki got the fight just two weeks out from the event. He’d already been forced out of the match-up back in June. He wasn’t about to turn down his second chance. “I was the third fight on the prelims tonight, I ended up being the third fight on the main card,” he observed. An opportunity paying off.
With that in mind, Solecki believes that “I’m going to take what they give me and stretch it into a long, long career.” So far, at 2-0 in the UFC, he’s off to a good start.
Watch the full UFC Vegas 7 post-fight press scrum with Joe Solecki above.
