ONE 171: “The referee was on my back”

Roberto Soldic is clearing the air about the supposed extra hits he gave Dagi Arslanaliev in their ONE 171: Qatar brawl last Feb. 20.

‘Robocop' notched his first victory in the home of martial arts in the most brutal way possible, taking away the Turkish fighter's consciousness with a single pin-point counter left hook in round 1.

Arslanaliev was clearly out before he ever faceplanted to the canvas at Lusail Sports Arena, but appeared to receive a couple more shots from Soldic before the referee could intervene.

Tensions were high shortly after, with Arslanaliev and his camp coming after Roberto Soldic for what they perceived as unnecessary follow-ups.

After cooler heads prevailed, the Croatian KO artist once again addressed the incident during the ONE 171 post-event press conference:

“Some of the teammates asked me, why you hit [him] on the ground, but this was still in the fight. The referee was on my back. I didn't see him. You have to finish the guy I mean, like, everything can happen. But I have to continue. You know, the referee is there to help him. That's it. Thank you.”

Watch the ONE 171 post-event presser in its entirety:

Roberto Soldic says it's his job to continue fighting until the referee stops the match

In his post-match interview with Mitch Chilson shortly after the skirmish, Roberto Soldic said he already apologized to Arslanaliev and his cornermen.

While throwing more shots on his downed foe seemed excessive to some, ‘Robocop' argued that he was simply doing his job. The UFD Gym representative explained:

“I just wanted to give my hand and explain what happened because he asked what happened. I speak a little bit of Russian, and he said that I hit him after the referee [stopped the fight]. But the referee was on my back. So, you know, I’m sorry for that. But it’s a fight, you know.”

The full replay of ONE 171: Qatar is available via watch.onefc.com.