Coming up, Nick Maximov took on all challenges. Now competing in the UFC’s middleweight division, the Nick Diaz Academy standout took fights in both the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions before signing to the promotion. Maximov passed those tests, but now that he’s in the big leagues, he feels it’s in his best interest to stay at 185lbs.
“I feel a little bit quicker (at middleweight), I feel like I keep my strength. I keep my endurance. I think my endurance is even up a notch. I have good speed. 205 is just big dudes. If they had a 195 (division), I’d probably do that,” Maximov explained to The AllStar.
The next test for Maximov comes in the form of Punahele Soriano. The pair are set to meet at UFC Vegas 47 on February 5th. Soriano is coming off of his first loss but is still considered a solid prospect in the division. However, Maximov isn’t letting his guard down just because Soriano lost his last fight. Soriano is a heavy-handed fighter, and Maximov doesn’t see many flaws in his game. He sees this as a step-up in competition.
“Puna is dangerous. He has a wild, dangerous, crazy style. If he were technical, I don’t think it’d really work out for him.”
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The sweet science
Top prepare for the task at hand, Maximov hasn’t changed too much. He’s still working with his regular coaches and has been training closely with Nate Diaz and professional boxer, Alan Sanchez, ahead of the fight. Yet, day in, day out, this is what the Californian does. They may tweak certain aspects of training for different opponents, but his camp never changes too much. For Maximov, training and eating right isn’t something you do while in camp: It’s a way of life.
“Sometimes people get to the UFC, and they realize, ‘oh, this has to be my life now’. Rather than doing that the whole time, they treat it like a second job. For me, it’s always been my whole life. That’s just how I look at it. I don’t look at it as training for fights. I look at it as training for life.”
Maximov is known for his jiu-jitsu game, but he’s spent time going to different boxing gyms recently. He says his hands may surprise us, but he doesn’t plan of deviating too far from the style that got him where he is today. He wants to finish Soriano and believes he’ll end the fight late in the second or in the third round.
A win over Soriano would put Maximov at 2-0 in the promotion. Maximov’s still young in his professional career, but his goal is to make some noise at middleweight this year.
“The goal is to get to the top. I want to try to crack the top 10 or 15 this year. We just have to see how every fight plays out and set little goals to get to those bigger ones.”
Fighter profile
Nick Maximov is a 24 year old male fighter from United States with 7 pro wins and 0 losses. Maximov is scheduled to fight Punahele Soriano at UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Strickland on Saturday February 5, 2022.
Maximov’s recent form coming into this matchup
Maximov has gone 5-0 in the last 5 professional MMA fights.
- Win vs Cody Brundage • Decision R3 5:00 • 2021-09-25
- Win vs Oscar Cota • Decision R3 5:00 • 2020-11-17
- Win vs Johnny James Jr. • Submission R2 4:01 • 2020-09-11
- Win vs Robert Allensworth • Submission R1 1:37 • 2020-01-11
- Win vs William Hope • KO/TKO R1 1:35 • 2019-08-10
Nick Maximov’s next opponent: Punahele “Puna” Soriano
Punahele “Puna” Soriano’s recent form coming into this matchup
Soriano is a 29 year old male fighter from United States with 8 pro wins and 1 loss. Soriano is scheduled to fight Nick Maximov at UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Strickland on Saturday February 5, 2022.
Soriano has gone 4-1 in the last 5 professional MMA fights.
- Loss vs Brendan Allen • Decision R3 5:00 • 2021-07-24
- Win vs Duško Todorović • KO/TKO R1 4:48 • 2021-01-16
- Win vs Oskar Piechota • KO/TKO R1 3:17 • 2019-12-14
- Win vs Jamie Pickett • Decision R3 5:00 • 2019-06-18
- Win vs Jhonoven Pati • Submission R1 3:36 • 2018-10-19
How to watch and bet on Nick Maximov vs Punahele Soriano
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