Punahele Soriano (born November 22, 1992) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
He went on to wrestle Division-III at Wartburg College in Iowa, where he earned All-America honors at the 2014 NCAAs by placing seventh in the 197-pound bracket, in the process becoming the first qualifier from Hawaii.
[9] After picking up a TKO win in just 45 seconds at V3 Fights 69 against James Horne, Soriano faced Jhonoven Pati on October 19, 2018, at LFA 52.
He won the bout via unanimous decision, getting a UFC contract in the process and going past the first round for the first time in his MMA career.
[13] Soriano faced fellow undefeated DWCS alumni Duško Todorović on January 16, 2021, at UFC on ABC: Holloway vs. Kattar.
[15] The pairing was previously scheduled to take place in May 2020 at UFC on ESPN: Overeem vs. Harris, but Soriano pulled out due to undisclosed reasons.
[16] In turn, Hernandez pulled out in late May due to a hand injury and was replaced by Brendan Allen, with the new matchup taking place a month later at UFC on ESPN: Sandhagen vs.
[30] Soriano faced Miguel Baeza in his welterweight division debut on June 8, 2024 at UFC on ESPN 57.