Punahele Soriano is back in action on September 5 in Paris, France. The welterweight fighter goes for his eighth win in the Octagon when he takes on TUF 33 winner Daniil Donchenko in the Accor Arena.
Multiple people have confirmed the fight to Heavy.com. Both fighters hope to get closer to the top 15 of the welterweight division. Donchenko is riding a seven-fight winning streak, while Soriano has won his last four fights.
The Choice That Turned Around His Career
In 2019, the then-undefeated Punahele Soriano fought during the Contender Series, putting his 100% finishing record on the line against Jamie Pickett. Soriano wasn’t able to finish Pickett but made a big impression and got signed by the UFC. In his first two UFC fights, Soriano went back to his finishing ways. It looked like the UFC had a new contender in the middleweight division. Between 2021 and 2023, Soriano lost four of his five fights and looked to be in trouble in the division.
Soriano made a vital choice in his career to drop down to the welterweight division. That decision was one of the best he could make. In 2024, Soriano saved his career in the UFC with a win over Miguel Baeza. Last year, he continued his run by defeating Uros Medic and Nikolay Veretennikov. Earlier this year, he won a close fight against Ramiz Brahimaj, putting his winning streak to four. Now he takes on Daniil Donchenko. A win against the Ukrainian will most likely get him a ranked opponent next.
Fan Favorite Only A Couple Of Fights In
Donchenko started his professional MMA career in 2019. The heavy-handed Ukrainian fighter fought the majority of his fights in his home country and Kazakhstan. In the Naiza FC promotion, Donchenko won the title in 2024 by finishing Kanybek Zhanybek Uulu via rear-naked choke in the fourth round. He successfully defended the title by beating Rustem Kudaybergenov at the end of 2024. Donchenko entered the tryouts in 2025 for the 33rd season of The Ultimate Fighter. He was picked to compete in the show.
Donchenko defeated Richard Martins and Matt Dixon, making it to the finale of the show. He won in the first round against Rodrigo Sezinando via TKO, crowning himself The Ultimate Fighter season 33 winner. In 2026, Donchenko has already fought twice. He beat tough veteran Alex Morono via unanimous decision and last month defeated promotional newcomer Theodor Berggren via knockout in the second round. For his fourth fight in the Octagon, he gets a big step up in competition, taking on Punahele Soriano.
UFC Paris – (September 5th)
- Dan Hooker vs. Salahdine Parnasse
- Nora Cornolle vs. Klaudia Syguła
- Michael Page vs. Nursulton Ruziboev
- Mario Pinto vs. Ryan Spann
- Nathaniel Wood vs. Mairon Santos
- Punahele Soriano vs. Daniil Donchenko
- Morgan Charrière vs. Felipe Lima
- Oumar Sy vs. Modestas Bukauskas
- Losene Keita vs. Muhammad Naimov
- Kurtis Campbell vs. Trevor Peek
- Luis Felipe Dias vs. Matthieu Duclos
- Michael Aljarouj vs. Fabia Sintes
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