Athletes
Santiago Ponzinibbio: 'The Dagger 2.0'
Veteran Welterweight Discusses Return To Action Against Muslim Salikhov This Weekend In Denver
We often think of “the thrill of victory” and “the agony of defeat” as equal emotional outcomes following a sporting event; two possible feelings one could feel after stepping onto the field or into the cage.
Ask any athlete about the two and they’ll tell you that while the thrill of victory is amazing and addictive, it’s also fleeting, while its cohort has a much greater shelf life.
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Santiago Ponzinibbio leans back in his chair, turning his face away from the camera when I ask him about this feeling — the agony of defeat — just a handful of days before his return to action this weekend In Denver, where he faces off with fellow welterweight veteran Muslim Salikhov. It’s been more than a year since he last set foot inside the Octagon, and he’s spent the whole time dealing with that lingering, miserable feeling that can only be remedied by getting your hand raised in victory.
“This is what happens when we lose — we are with this feeling,” he says, smiling, explaining the dichotomy that exists between the ever-linked emotions. “That’s the thing of the fight: you win? Okay, excited, a couple days, and then back in the gym. But when you lose, you’re stuck with this feeling for one year or more. Right now, I’m stuck with this feeling.”
His last fight came at UFC 287 last April in Miami against Kevin Holland.
After a pair of competitive rounds with the Texas showman, Ponzinibbio got clipped in the back half of the third, landing on his knees with his forehead on the canvas, propping him up. As Holland looked to pounce, referee Dan Miragliotta stepped in and halted the action, much to his dismay.
“I think I’m doing a good fight, I could win the fight, and then he catches me with that one punch and I was so pissed off,” recalls Ponzinibbio, who is just 2-4 since a terrible infection left him sidelined and his fighting future in question for two years. “I wanted to continue fighting, but the referee stopped it.
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“This is part of the sport, this is what happens, and I’m okay with that,” he adds. “But I’m still with that feeling, and I feel ready to be done with that.”
Ponzinibbio is at an interesting intersection of his career as he readies to face off with Salikhov this weekend.
Just a couple months away from turning 38, the American Top Team representative and member of the UFC’s Spanish broadcast crew has more than proven himself as a fighter, having logged 17 appearances inside the Octagon, including wins over Sean Strickland, Gunnar Nelson, Mike Perry, and Neil Magny.
He was a Top 15 fixture throughout his initial rise, having climbed as high as No. 7 after running his winning streak to seven with his victory over Magny in November 2018. A consummate professional and respected by his peers, the Argentinian still remains a dangerous veteran presence in the welterweight ranks to this day, but is also at a point where discussions about retirement and current motivations start to become far more commonplace.
“This is what I love to do, man,” he says, a smile lighting up his face as he explains what continues to propel him into the Octagon. “I always enjoy the camp, the preparation, the fight week, the cutting weight; everything. I’m the kind of fighter that really enjoys the process.
“This is not about showing something to other people; it’s about showing something to myself — to prove to myself I can do, stay with the best fighters in the world, competing at a high level.
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“I know I can do it, and this is what makes me excited, is to challenge myself every day to be better.”
Though he has already established a post-fighting path for himself on the broadcast side of things, Ponzinibbio is not yet feeling the pull of pivoting to the next phase of his professional career, and points to both his training situation and recent results as reasons for continuing to make the walk to the Octagon as frequently as he can.
“I really enjoy that part, too — I really like it and I’m super-happy with this other part of my career — but, of course, what I most love is to stay inside the cage, fighting,” explained the former Ultimate Fighter: Brazil standout. “You’re asking me how I will know when is the time to stop that? I think you’re gonna feel it, and you’re gonna start to see in the training, the results, the performance; I think that’s when you know you need to start thinking about that.
“But, in training, at American Top Team, it’s one of the most competitive gyms in the world; a lot of top guys. I feel great in my training every day, and in my fights, I can win, I can lose — it’s part of the sport — but nobody has beaten me for 15 minutes; nobody smashes me.
“I have two losses by split decision — Michel Pereira, Geoff Neal; two very tough guys, but I make it,” he says, pointing to the narrow setbacks that preceded his December 2022 win over Alex Morono that still stands as his most recent win. “If you look at my history, nobody takes me for 15 minutes, smashing me where you say, ‘Okay, you’re not on their level; you need to train more’ or ‘You can’t perform.’ This has not happened. Never; it’s always competitive fights with tough guys, and always doing good.
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“I think I can perform (well) for a long time.”
The next chance to test that hypothesis comes this weekend in Denver, where Ponzibbio has been camped out, getting acclimated for the last couple weeks in advance of his showdown with Salikhov on Saturday.
The two were originally scheduled to meet in Ponzinibbio’s return to action in January 2021, only for Salikhov to test positive for COVID and be replaced by Li Jingliang, who knocked out the Argentine in the first round.
Like Ponzinibbio, Salikhov is also at that stage where questions about the future arise more often, having turned 40 at the beginning of last month and entering with a 1-3 mark over his last four outings.
“He’s a good fighter — has a lot of experience, a great name, champion of the world in Sanda, a lot of kickboxing matches,” Ponzinibbio says of Salikhov, offering a quick assessment of the man he’ll face on Saturday evening at Ball Arena. “He’s a guy that has a lot of fights in the company, too.
“This is the kind of fight that I wanted and, of course, I’m ready to make a great show.”
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For the affable veteran, this weekend’s return to action is a chance to confirm his belief that he still has plenty left in the tank and implement the changes he’s made in the long, difficult stretch he’s spent sitting with that miserable feeling that comes with suffering a loss lingering in the pit of his stomach.
“I can take a good result with anybody at 170 pounds, and this is what I try to enjoy in this moment of my career,” he says. “I dealt with a lot of adversities in my life and this has made me who I am now.
“I’m a fighter for life; we keep moving forward. I think I have fixed a lot of problems that I had before. I think people are gonna see a different Santiago Ponzinibbio this fight because I fixed a lot of things so that I can perform the way I want to. I’m feeling great and people are gonna see a new version of Santiago Ponzinibbio; ‘The Dagger 2.0.’”
