Seldin, a 38 year old New Yorker with a record of 28-1 (23 KOs), last fought a year ago at the same venue in an event run by the same promotor. The "Hebrew Hammer" started strong against Jose Angulo, scoring a knockdown in both of the first two rounds before winning by majority decision. In the meantime, Cletus, who proposed to his long time girlfriend immediately after the Angulo fight, got married.
Solano (15-4,10 KOs) is no pushover for Seldin. The 32 year old southpaw from Colombia doesn't have the prettiest record, but the man called "El Tigre" has been in tough in recent years. After winning his first twelve fights in his native land and two in Mexico, he relocated to Las Vegas. His last five fights have all been in the United States against good fighters.
On ShoBox, Solano effectively fought off the ropes against an aggressive Argentine named Elias Araujo in 2019. Though Araujo controlled the tenor of the fight, Solano scored a knockdown in the fourth and countered enough to earn a split decision victory.
A year and a half later, Solano returned to ShoBox where he lost his undefeated record to Mykquan Williams, who outboxed the Colombian. After a split decision defeat to Alberto Palmetta, another Argentine, Solano was dominated by Gabriel Gollaz nearly two years later. Gollaz won by sixth round KO.
Last November, Solano retreated to the ropes against fellow southpaw Kelvin Davis in an attempt to draw the taller man to him. Davis wisely kept his range and convinced Solano to leave his hands at home. Davis scored a late knockdown and a wide unanimous decision victory.
An experienced amateur, Solano is a natural righty with a good right hook. He can fight in different styles, but recently prefers to stay on the perimeter and counter. Seldin will want to bully Solano, keeping him on the ropes because it will neutralize Solano's southpaw advantage if the Colombian is squared up with his back to the ropes. However, Solano is the rare fighter who seems to enjoy fighting off the ropes.
When Seldin fought Zab Judah, a southpaw, he spent some of that fight as a lefty which is another route he could go if he needs it. Seldin switched to southpaw against William Silva when he was being outboxed. Solano can box, but not like Judah or Silva. Seldin should use his strength advantage and muscle Solano, but be mindful of counters.
Seldin-Solano is scheduled for eight rounds and can be streamed on UFC Fight Pass.
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