After suffering the first three losses of his career in consecutive bouts, former UFC featherweight turned lightweight Sean Soriano rebounded in his most recent fight with a first-round finish of Josh Quayhagen at Legacy FC 48 in November.
For Soriano, what got him back on track was refocusing on his game and not so much concerning himself with what his opponent was bringing to the fight.
“I feel I performed excellently (against Quayhagen) to be honest with you,” Soriano told MMAWeekly.com. “The knockout was the icing on the cake.
“(The win came due) to the fact that I was more relaxed and more did my thing than worried about what other people were going to do.”
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Soriano admits his year-long losing streak was difficult to deal with at times, but he refused to give in to doubt, and his perseverance has paid off.
“First it was tough to deal with,” Soriano said. “You go through emotions and don’t know if you want to do this or have the energy to keep going. There are other times that you know you can’t quit.
“I was dealing with a lot of things, but I knew deep down inside that if I kept working hard, things would play out, and I just stuck with it.”
Soriano (9-3) returns to Legacy FC on Friday in Lake Charles, La., to take on Thomas Webb (9-3) in a main card 155-pound bout.
“I have to do the same exact thing I did with Josh,” said Soriano of facing Webb. “I’ve got to take my time, keep my pressure high, and be relaxed. I think things will come to me that way.”
Now that he’s back on the winning path, Soriano feels his experiences have helped make him a better fight and that a return to the UFC could be in the near future. He feels it would be a much better experience the second time around.
“My overall goal is to get back to the UFC, but I’m just taking it fight-by-fight this year,” Soriano said. “I think with three solid good wins I should be back, no problem.
“I gained a lot of experience from my time in the UFC, so if I go back, I’ll know what to expect and I’ll be more ready than before.”
