Athletes
Santiago Ponzinibbio | Pushing Through Adversity
Santiago Ponzinibbio Breaks Down Recent Fight At UFC Fight Night: Dern vs Ribas 2
There’s nothing quite like a Santiago Ponzinibbio fight. It’s almost hard to describe without seeing it for yourself, but when the welterweight veteran is in the Octagon, a fight usually turns into a movie.
There are twists and turns, blood and guts and plenty of drama. And by the end, you’re almost as drained as the combatants. In other words, it’s almost impossible to avoid getting emotionally invested in the outcome.
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On January 11, Ponzinibbio’s 19th visit to the UFC Octagon played out like so many of his previous fights. He pursued a finish against Carlston Harris, battled through adversity, took some shots, then found some extra stuff in the basement to pull out a third-round TKO victory.
Roll the credits. And while Ponzinibbio got in some weight work in the gym and then traveled to Los Angeles to call UFC 311 with the Spanish broadcast team, what he really earned is a vacation.
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“I’m always working,” Ponzinibbio laughs, and he’s grateful for that work. As for the magic he produces on fight night, how does he do it – every time, all the time?
“I always fight with my fire,” he said. “I come in fighting with a lot of things since the first day when I tried to make this dream come true. I moved to Brazil with nothing -nothing in the pocket, too many adversities, and I was in another country.”
Rise Of Santiago Ponzinibbio
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Rise Of Santiago Ponzinibbio
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Ponzinibbio, 38, never forgot those tough days, and they didn’t end when he made it to the UFC through season one of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil. There were the difficult losses and two serious bacterial infections that didn’t just sideline him for over two years but took him from being on the verge of a title shot to someone who almost saw his career ended.
“This was pretty tough for me, and it was a difficult moment,” he said of his illness. “But I always have the same philosophy in my life; I use all the adversity like a fire inside me to push forward, to continue going. And yeah, I think it's because of that and my heart, when the fight is going a little crazy, I go deep and take the victory.”
It’s exactly what he did, surviving a furious attack from Harris in the opening round to finish matters at 3:13 of the third stanza.
“In the first round, he surprised me with one punch,” said Ponzinibbio. “He had a heavier punchthan I thought. And when I finished the first round, my coach told me, ‘Listen, you were winning the first round, but you lost because you took a knockdown. Now you need to go deeper.’ And this is what I did. I put more pressure on in the second round, and in the third round, I said to myself, I’m going to finish this guy.”
Easier said than done, but not for the “Argentine Dagger,” who has made such efforts routine. And it has little to do with technique or experience, but everything to do with what’s in his chest.
“The only thing you can't train is your heart,” he said. “You’re born with that, or you don't have it. And thank God, I can say that I’ve been tested more than once, and I have it.”
He needed it at the APEX because after losing two in a row and four of his last five, a getting his hand raised was essential to keep his dreams of winning a world title alive and remind the world just who he is.
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“I always believe I can do it and I wanted to finish this fight,” Ponzinibbio said. “I said in my interviews before the fight that I want to finish the fight because I have three split decisions that I didn’t agree with. The last fight (against Muslim Salikhov), I think it was pretty clear that we won and I don't know why this happened. So the goal for this fight was to dominate, and we needed to finish this fight.”
About the only thing Ponzinibbio didn’t get in Vegas was a Fight of the Night or Performance of the Night bonus, but he did get to erase the bad taste in his mouth from his split decision defeats to Muslim Salikhov, Geoff Neal and Michel Pereira, which accounted for three of his last four losses.
Now he can move forward with a fresh slate, the pioneer of Argentinean MMA who still wants to bring championship gold back home. No pressure.
“It’s not pressure,” said Ponzinibbio. “But it makes me happy because when I started and leftfrom Argentina, it was like what I said before, I didn't have nothing, no money in my pocket, and I didn't know anybody. I just went to Brazil to try to make some contacts to try and make my dream come true. But thinking about the UFC was completely too far. There were almost no Latino people in UFC at that time. So it's crazy the way that everything happened. I'm the first Argentinean in UFC history, and I am there for 12 years and always doing good fights. Of course, I’ve had my ups and downs and I had a lot of medical problems, but I'm still showing to the people that I can continue competing. I continue fighting with the highest levels in the world, and that makes me proud because of my history. We continue moving forward.”
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And that fire is still burning.
“This is my place,” he said. “I want to stay inside of the cage, and I still feel I can be one of the best. I have my dream to be champion of the world, I have my dream to stay with the best fighters in the world. I’ll continue working on that. It is not only about money or changing my status of life. It’s about my dreams. I feel super healthy, I feel super good, and I want to be in the cage the most times I can.”
UFC Fight Night: Dern vs Ribas 2 took place live from UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 11, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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