Athletes
Santiago Ponzinibbio Continues To Chase His Passion
Welterweight Veteran Continues To Fly The Argentine Flag With Pride As He Continues To Compete In The Sport He Loves.
Argentina’s Santiago Ponzinibbio doesn’t have to fight, but don’t for one second think that his passion for the sport is on the wane. If anything, the fire is burning brighter than ever. Ponzibbio has flown the flag for Argentina in the UFC ever since his arrival back in 2013. Now, 13 years on, he proudly remains a standard-bearer for the sport in his homeland.
“I’m the first one in history, you know?” he grinned. “I'm the guy that can open the door for the market. Before that, people [in Argentina] didn't watch too much UFC. It's a new sport, and of course, growing all over the world… Now I have 13 years with the company representing my flag. I think that’s super cool. I'm very proud of that. Now the new generation is coming, and now it’s different. Everything has changed now. People know they can become a good fighter from [Argentina]. People start their careers, the system changes, and there are more opportunities. I'm happy with that. It's great, man.”
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Ponzinibbio is firmly in the veteran stage of his career these days, and he’s the elder statesman of Argentine MMA. He may have had to fly solo for his nation through the early stages of his UFC career, but he’s got company in 2026, thanks to a talented group of Argentine fighters who are on the rise.
“The new generation is doing so good. We have a lot of good kids coming, and there’s more coming in the future,” he said. “Argentina has a very [big] potential in this sport. They only need time, and people start to believe in that and help to grow the sport, and now that's happening. [We have Kevin] Vallejos, we have [Esteban] Ribovics, we have Francisco Prado, we have Ailin Perez. She’s number four in the rankings. That's good, man.”
Saturday night will see the spotlight return to Ponzinibbio as he takes on Sam Patterson in a battle between a grizzled vet and an ascending talent. It’s the sort of matchup that is becoming more frequent for Ponzinibbio at this stage of his career, and he’s fine with it.
“Yeah, I like that. Sam is a young man who’s hungry. He’s coming to prove his value against a veteran that has the experience like me. We will see,” he said. “It's gonna be fun, man. I'm more than ready. I think every fight is like a new challenge. Every fight is a different challenge for different reasons. And I always prepare for that, and always try to take this challenge to grow. I know this is gonna be a good, fun fight.”
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Patterson is coming into the bout off a loss to Michael “Venom” Page, but prior to that defeat, he had finished each of his previous four opponents in the first round. Ponzinibbio has faced his fair share of finishers down the years and said that the Englishman hasn’t faced his combination of attributes before.
“I know that he has not fought somebody who has my power, or somebody who has my experience,” he stated. “I have different things that he’s never seen, and that's gonna be a good challenge, you know? A good challenge for him, and a good challenge for me.”
Santiago Ponzinibbio: 'It's Not About The Money... I Want The Challenge' | UFC Abu Dhabi
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Santiago Ponzinibbio: 'It's Not About The Money... I Want The Challenge' | UFC Abu Dhabi
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It might be a fight between two athletes at very different points in their respective careers, but Ponzinibbio’s motivation remains as high as ever, both inside the Octagon as a fighter, and sat Octagonside as a Spanish-language color commentator.
“I like to fight. It's what I have in my blood. It's my instinct,” he said. “I love to fight, and thank God I don't need to fight more. If I want to stop, I can stop. It's not about money. It's just about what I love. I want the competition. I want the challenge. I like that.
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"I always take the fight the company gives me, you know? I think it's a new challenge for different reasons. It's always a challenge to try to be better at fighting, and I love to prepare for a guy. I like to have this mentality of competition. And after the fights, I have three shows to do in August on TV. I’m pretty busy!”
To say Ponzinibbio loves MMA would be a huge understatement. When he’s not training or helping others, he’s working on taking the sport to the masses in his role as a TV analyst.
And after a career that was interrupted by a serious infection that threatened to rob him of his fighting future, Ponzinibbio is making sure he embraces every moment as he takes every opportunity he can to step into the Octagon and do what he loves.
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“My idea is to be active as I can,” he explained. “I always say, if I'm healthy, I want to be in the Octagon, doing my fights, enjoying fights. Man, time passes so fast, right? I was sick at one moment in my life [and] I lost time.
“Especially for us [fighters], time is too short. It’s too fast, and our career is too short. I need to take advantage of this as much as I can. Being active and fighting is what I choose to do. It’s what I love, being in the cage and having fun.”
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