Santiago Ponzinibbio’s knockout victory at UFC Fight Night 140 in Buenos Aires, Argentina proved to be more valuable than anyone could have imagined.
On Thursday, Ponzinibbio posted on social media that he had received the key to the city of La Plata, capital city of the Argentinian province Buenos Aires, from Mayor Julio Garro.
According to MMAFighting, the key to the city had only been given to four other recipients prior to Ponzinibbio, all musicians: The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Ed Sheeran and Alejandro Lerner. In addition, he was bestowed the honor of “Illustrious Citizen of Buenos Aires.” Given only to Argentine natives or longtime residents, that honor is bestowed by the legislature for exemplary work in the fields of culture, science, politics or sports. “Gente Boa” prevailed at the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s debut event in Argentina, knocking out Neil Magny in the fourth round of the main event. Having not suffered defeat since a “Fight of the Night” – winning loss to Lorenz Larkin in 2015, with that win Ponzinibbio boosted his win streak to seven straight, among the longest in the division.