As Soriano wrote in a recent Instagram post tracing their shared journey, it’s been North Shore, Oahu to Wartburg College in Waverly, Indiana, to training at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas and fighting in the UFC, which makes it surprising that they don’t live on the same block now.
“It’s funny because back home in Hawaii, we literally lived 10 minutes walking distance away from each other, but here, we live pretty far apart,” said Soriano, laughing, when asked if Ige has ever playfully snapped at him to quit following him. “He’s never been like that, though — he’s always the one that’s like, ‘You should come!’
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“That’s literally all he says is ‘You should…’ and whatever the next thing is, I say, ‘Okay’ and just follow.”
This weekend, Soriano is the one taking the lead, serving as the first of three members of the Xtreme Couture team making the trek into the Octagon to close out the night, with Sean Strickland following Ige into the cage to take on Nassourdine Imavov on short notice in the five-round, light heavyweight main event.
It’s a role the ascending Hawaiian middleweight takes pride in, and after a couple years of getting his feet under himself on the big stage, he’s ready to start taking real steps forward in 2023.
“I think regardless of how any of us do, we’re going to go out there and perform to the best of our abilities, but I feel like it’s an honor that I get to set the tone for Dan and Sean,” offered Soriano, who carries a 9-2 record overall into his clash with Kopylov this weekend. “I love it. I love that pressure. I want to turn it to diamonds and start the night off right for us.
