UFC Vegas 67 Odds: Punahele Soriano vs Roman Kopylov Prediction

Payton Matthews
January 11, 2023

Soriano is -175 on the MMA odds with Soriano +135. The main card begins at 7 p.m. ET so this likely will start around 8.

Punahele Soriano -180
Roman Kopylov +140

Roman Kopylov UFC Vegas 67

The 31-year-old Kopylov, from Russia, is also unranked in the middleweight division and is also 9-2 in a pro career dating to 2016. He made his UFC debut in November 2019 and lost to Karl Robertson via third-round submission (rear-naked choke). He then lost again to Albert Duraev by unanimous decision before getting his first organizational victory over Alessio Di Chirico in September via third-round KO (punches).

“It’s a good matchup. Weirdly, we have the same record, I think the last five fights we have the same record, so that’s kind of cool. I think he’s good everywhere. I’m just ready to test myself against him,” Soriano said of his Kopylov. “I think the best way to get my hand raised is to go in there, put the pressure on him, fight him, put my hands on him, take him down when I can, beat him up, and just keep the pressure on him. Just try and wilt him.”

Indeed, Kopylov is a bit of an unknown. He stands 6-foot tall and has a reach of 75 inches. He lands 3.44 significant strikes per minute with 44 per cent accuracy and absorbs 3.81 with 60 per cent defence. His takedown average is 0.37 per 15 minutes with 33 per cent accuracy, and his takedown defence is 87 per cent. Kopylov has eight wins by KO/TKO and one by decision.

Punahele Soriano UFC Vegas 67

Alex Pereira is the UFC middleweight champion and the 30-year-old Soriano, who is from Hawaii, is unranked with a 9-2 professional record dating to 2017. He was a state champion wrestler and judo state champion at Kahuku High School in Waialua, Hawaii. He also earned All-America honours while wrestling at Division III Wartburg College in Iowa.

Dan Ige is also on this card (immediate fight after vs. Damon Jackson) and was a wrestling teammate of Soriano’s in high school.

“It’s super cool. We’ve kind of been talking about this, dreaming about this since high school. We used to catch the bus from Haleiwa 7-Eleven to Kahuku every day,” said Soriano, who estimated that the commute took about an hour. “On the way home, late, late at night after wrestling practice, we’d just talk about being in the UFC, fighting, and now it’s coming true.”

Soriano’s UFC debut was in December 2019, and he beat Oskar Piechota by first-round KO (punch). “Story Time” is 2-2 since and comes off a first-round KO victory (punches) over Dalcha Lungiambula last July. It earned Soriano his first Performance of the Night bonus award.

The 5-foot-11 Soriano has a reach of 72 inches and his fights average 9:46. He lands 3.95 significant strikes per minute with 47 per cent accuracy and absorbs 3.42 with 52 per cent defence. His takedown average is 1.02 per 15 minutes with 57 per cent accuracy, and his takedown defence is 31 per cent. Soriano has six wins by KO/TKO, two by submission and one by decision, while both losses are via the judges. He has earned all three of his UFC victories by knockout.