Santiago Ponzinibbio wants to regain all his lost momentum.
Ponzinibbio hasn’t competed since November 2018 when he knocked out Neil Magny. The victory put him on a seven-fight winning streak as it appeared he was destined to eventually get a title shot.
However, the Argentine hasn’t competed since due to a number of health issues and as a result, has been removed from the UFC rankings. But now healthy and ready to compete again, Ponzinibbio is looking for a big name.
He has been calling out Rafael dos Anjos for a while now, but there are many others who interest him as well.
“RDA I think it’s a good fight before,” Ponzinibbio told MMA Junkie. “Now he has a couple of losses, but it’s still a good name, it’s still an ex-champion. Before everything started, they told me one more fight, and you’re going to the belt. I was so excited. Right now I understand I have a couple of months off from the game. It’s not my fault.
“I’d really like to fight with a big name, maybe ex-champion. They have a lot of good names in the division: Robbie Lawler, RDA, ‘Showtime’ Pettis. Michael Chiesa coming in very well into the division; it’s a good fight. Tyron Woodley, ex-champion, always I like this fight. … Stephen Thompson is an exciting fight. A lot of good options, and hopefully they give me a good opponent for my comeback.”
Ponzinibbio Prefers Woodley
If he could choose just one, his preference would be the former champion in Woodley.
Woodley is on a two-fight losing streak and is coming off a lopsided unanimous decision defeat to current top contender Gilbert Burns. However, he still has a No. 5 rank as well as the name value to get Ponzinibbio right back into contention.
Ponzinnibio also has a date in mind.
“I like end of August or September,” Ponzinibbio said. “That’s a good time. Who? There are a lot of good names. If I need to pick and say this guy, I’d love to fight Tyron Woodley. I’ve always been asking for this fight. For different reasons they never give me, but I love this fight.
“There are a lot of good names there. I think we can do a lot of exciting fights with Robbie Lawler, a lot of good guys there. Michael Chiesa, he came in very well, three victories in the division, the last fight was a co-main event. We can do an exciting main event with Michael Chiesa, a good fight, too.”
Who do you want to see Ponzinibbio face next?