Before it’s all said and done, Santiago Ponzinibbio wants to fight again on home soil. The veteran welterweight is hoping the UFC revisits Argentina in the future so he can get a chance to fight in front of his people.
“Of course, that’s a dream of mine,” Ponzinibbio told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “That’s always brought up whenever I have the opportunity to talk to the people from the company, and that’s always in my plans, so we’ll see when things line up for it to come together.”
Ponzinibbio (29-7 MMA, 11-6 UFC) got to do just that almost five years ago at the height of his best UFC run. He got to headline UFC Fight Night 140 in Buenos Aires against Neil Magny. That night, Ponzinibbio knocked out Magny to extend his winning streak to seven in a row.
Although he’s now 36, Ponzinibbio is confident he’ll get another chance to fight in Argentina.
“We’re going to make that happen one way or the other,” Ponzinibbio said. “We got plenty of time.”
Ponzinibbio is coming off a KO loss to Kevin Holland in Miami in early April. It was a defeat that halted momentum from his Performance of the Night winning KO over Alex Morono in December.
Ponzinibbio believes he could’ve fought out to see a decision and disagrees with the stoppage.
“The truth is that it wasn’t a KO. It was a dramatic fall, but I wasn’t knocked out,” Ponzinibbio said. “I could’ve kept fighting. When I stood up, I told the referee that I wasn’t (knocked out). I understand that it’s up to his interpretation, and he has to make a quick call. The fall was a bit dramatic, and I would’ve liked for the fight to continue.
“I was fighting well. I was comfortable. I just made two mistakes, but besides that I had good control, and I was doing well. But this is MMA. One second can change everything. You just need to take the lessons and focus on what’s next.”
As far as what’s next, Ponzinibbio would like to fight as soon as possible. He’s training hard and waiting for the UFC call.
“We’ll see what the UFC offers me,” Ponzinibbio said. “I’m always working, and I just want to fight again as soon as possible. I’d like to get in two more fights this year. I want to be active and continue to put on wars in the octagon. That’s what I do.”
