Santiago Ponzinibbio offers to fight Khamzat Chimaev: “Hey UFC, I’m here.”
UFC welterweight veteran Santiago Ponzinibbio has offered to step up and take on Khamzat Chimaev after the undefeated Chechen complained about the lack of willing opposition in the 170lb division.
After an extremely successful 2022 campaign that saw Khamzat Chimaev pick up impressive wins over Kevin Holland and Gilbert Burns, ‘Borz’ has been vocal in his hopes to return to action at UFC 285 in London. However, according to a recent video posted to his YouTube channel, four welterweights have already turned down fight offers, with no potential opponent is sight.
However, one man who is willing to take on the undefeated contender is Santiago Ponzinibbio. ‘The Argentine Dagger’ is coming off a brutal KO victory over Alex Morono at UFC 282, and has now put up his hand in hopes of a shot at Chimaev.
In a recent interview with Sherdog.com, Santiago Ponzinibbio stated:
“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. Now that I know the fight hasn’t been finalized, it’s even better. Hey UFC, I’m here.”
Prior to the KO win over Morono, Ponzinibbio was going through somewhat of a rough patch, having lost back-to-back fights for the first time in his career. Both Geoff Neal and Michel Pereira picked up split decision wins over him, and despite the close nature of these fights, Ponzinibbio fell out of the top 15.
However, now that he is back to winning ways, ‘The Argentine Dagger’ is looking to build up some momentum once again.
“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].”
“When I went to the third round against Morono and my trainer told me I was losing the first two rounds. I entered the third round planning on getting a finish, and that’s what I did, getting a knockout win.”
“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 ended with. (H/T Sherdog.com).
