Santiago
Ponzinibbio isn’t one to back down from a challenge.
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Shortly after Khamzat
Chimaev declared on his video blog that four different
opponents have turned down a fight against him, Ponzinibbio called
out the Chechen star for a clash in the Octagon.
“I thought he was going to fight Colby [Covington], and I was
planning to ask UFC to put me as reserve fighter in case either one
of them got hurt,” he told Sherdog.com. “Now that I know the fight
hasn’t been finalized, it’s even better. Hey UFC, I’m here.”
Ponzinibbio dealt with some adversity recently, as he lost
back-to-back fights for the first time in his career, falling to
Geoff
Neal and Michel
Pereira via split decision.
“I never lost two fights in a row” he said. “Personally I don’t
think I lost to Neal or Pereira, but what counts is the red mark on
your Sherdog [profile],” he said. Ponzinibbio returned to the win
colum at UFC 282, defeating Alex Morono
via third-round technical knockout on Dec. 10.
“When I went to the third round against Morono and my trainer told
me I was losing the first two rounds,” he said. “I
entered the third round planning on getting a finish, and that’s
what I did, getting a knockout win.”
The following week was also emotional for the Argentinean, when he
witnessed his home country win the World Cup.
“I was born in 1986, the same year [Diego] Maradona gave us our
second World Cup,” he said. “Being able to see [Lionel] Messi win
the third one just a week after my win in a game against France
that is considered one of the best of all-time was something
unbelievable. I saw the game with hundreds of Argentineans in
Florida. I felt like I was in Buenos Aires.”
After taking the past two weeks off, Ponzinibbio is back at
American Top Team to train. He’s ready for the UFC to give him his
next right.
“I’ve won nine of my last 12 fights … I deserve to be back in the
rankings, and I’ll prove that if the UFC gives me a fight against
anyone who is ranked,” he said.