Daniil Donchenko Goes 4-0 in UFC After Paris Decision Over Soriano
Daniil Donchenko stayed unbeaten in the Octagon on Saturday, taking a unanimous decision over Punahele Soriano on the UFC Paris main card.
The 25-year-old Ukrainian improved to 4-0 inside the promotion after three rounds at Accor Arena, a result the UFC posted while UFC Fight Night: Hooker vs. Parnasse was still streaming on Paramount+.
Donchenko arrived in France as the welterweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter Season 33.
He earned his UFC contract by stopping Rodrigo Sezinando in the first round at Noche UFC in September 2025, then outpointed veteran Alex Morono in February and finished Theodor Berggren with a head kick and punches in June in Baku.
After that knockout, Donchenko used his post-fight interview to ask for a spot on the Paris card, citing his French and the summers he spent in the country as a teenager.
The UFC granted the request. Soriano was waiting as a different kind of assignment.
The Hawaiian entered on a four-fight winning streak at 170 pounds, with recent victories over Ramiz Brahimaj, Nikolay Veretennikov, Uros Medic, and Miguel Baeza.
Soriano was 13-4 overall and 7-4 in the UFC before Saturday, and that run had come since he settled at welterweight.
Referee Marc Goddard oversaw the bout. Donchenko opened with power punches and body kicks, then dropped Soriano with a combination in the first round.
Soriano wrapped up a leg and ate elbows to the head long enough to get back to his feet.
Donchenko stayed on the attack with a spinning back kick to the body and more shots downstairs. Soriano’s early takedown attempts did not stick.
The second round remained mostly upright. Donchenko chopped at the lead leg, switched stances, and landed hooks while Soriano struggled to find clean contact.
Late in the round, Soriano completed a brief takedown and landed a glancing head kick. Donchenko walked through it and kept the striking edge.
Round 3 belonged more to the veteran. Soriano dragged Donchenko down, worked from the clinch, and slammed him to the canvas in the closing minute.
It was his strongest stretch of the night. It was not enough to erase the first two rounds.
All three judges scored the fight for Donchenko, 30-27, 30-27, and 29-28.
The decision snapped Soriano’s four-fight run and dropped him to 13-5 overall and 7-5 in the UFC.
For Donchenko, the win was another step up in competition without a blemish on his UFC record.
He remains outside the official welterweight top 15. The latest rankings, released Sept. 1 after UFC Fight Night in Shanghai, still have no listing for him.
He already has a name in mind. UFC.com reported that Donchenko called for a matchup with Daniel Rodriguez later this year.
Rodriguez is ranked No. 14 at welterweight and is coming off a loss to Medic. UFC on Paramount+ also posted that Donchenko wants Rodriguez next.
That would be a ranked assignment rather than a jump toward the title picture, which is currently headed by champion Islam Makhachev.
Matchmaking after Paris will decide whether the callout turns into a fight.
The rest of the UFC Paris main card continued after the decision, with Michael Page, a lightweight co-main between Fares Ziam and Axel Sola, and the Dan Hooker vs. Salahdine Parnasse headliner still on the schedule.
Donchenko got the Paris date he asked for in June. His next step now depends on whether the UFC is ready to put a ranked welterweight in front of him.