Punahele Soriano moves to 170, welcomes Miguel Baeza back at June 8 UFC event

Punahele Soriano is dropping to welterweight for the first time in his pro career.

Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed to MMA Fighting that Soriano will make his 170-pound debut against Miguel Baeza at the UFC’s fight card on June 8. The event currently doesn’t have a confirmed location or venue.

Baeza returns to the octagon for the first time in more than two years, while Soriano makes the drop to welterweight after dropping two straight and four of his past five. Soriano has spent most of his career at middleweight, but in his most recent outing, he was submitted by Dustin Stoltzfus at December’s UFC Austin event. The 31-year-old Contender Series alum makes the walk for the eighth time in the promotion.

After earning a contract on Contender Series in June 2019, Baeza made a big splash in the UFC’s welterweight division with stoppage wins over Hector Aldana, Matt Brown, and Takashi Sato, which improved his record to 10-0. Since then, “Caramel Thunder” went 0-3 inside the octagon, including TKO losses to Andre Fialho and Khaos Williams, as well as a decision loss in a “Fight of the Night” against Santiago Ponzinibbio.

Guilherme Cruz contributed to this report.