Tag: Santiago Ponzinibbio

UFC Vegas 55 Performance Bonus Winners

UFC middleweight Chidi Njokuani earned his second straight post-fight bonus with an elbow strike knockout over Dusko Todorovic at UFC Vegas 55. Njokuani fought off a series of Todorovic takedown attempts to get the fight back to the feet. A well-renowned kickboxer, he was able to move Todorovic to the clinch before landing a right…

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UFC middleweight Chidi Njokuani earned his second straight post-fight bonus with an elbow strike knockout over Dusko Todorovic at UFC Vegas 55.

Njokuani fought off a series of Todorovic takedown attempts to get the fight back to the feet. A well-renowned kickboxer, he was able to move Todorovic to the clinch before landing a right elbow strike that sent Todorovic unconscious.

Check out Njokuani’s finish below.

Earlier this year, Njokuani earned another performance bonus for his TKO over Marc-Andre Barriault in his UFC debut. He earned a shot in the UFC following an up-and-down tenure in Bellator, followed by a win on Dana White’s Contender Series.

Njokuani wasn’t the only one who cashed in after scoring a big finish. Featherweight prospect Chase Hooper got back on track in his UFC career with a third-round TKO win over Felipe Colares on the prelims.

Hooper had been away from the Octagon for nearly a year since his loss to Steven Peterson at UFC 263. The 22-year-old showed massive improvements with his striking after being well-known for years as a grappling-first athlete.

In the UFC Vegas 55 co-main event, welterweights Santiago Ponzinibbio and Michel Pereira put on a three-round war at the UFC Apex. After 15 minutes of action, Pereira earned a split decision to win his fifth straight fight.

The bout earned ‘Fight of the Night’ with both Pereira and Ponzinibbio earning an extra $50k each.

Pereira has picked up wins over the likes of Niko Price, Khaos Williams, and Andre Fialho since losing two of his first three UFC fights.

The UFC Vegas 55 main event featured a split-decision win for Ketlen Vieira over former bantamweight champion Holly Holm.

What are your thoughts on Chidi Njokuani and the rest of the UFC Vegas 55 performance bonus winners?

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Photos: Official Scorecards For The UFC Vegas 55 Main Card

The main card for UFC Vegas 55 featured four decisions and some controversial scorecards, particularly in the women’s bantamweight main event between Ketlen Vieira and Holly Holm. Ketlen Vieira claimed a narrow split-decision victory for the biggest win of her career against former champion Holly Holm. The Brazilian earned 48-47 cards from two judges, while…

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The main card for UFC Vegas 55 featured four decisions and some controversial scorecards, particularly in the women’s bantamweight main event between Ketlen Vieira and Holly Holm.

Ketlen Vieira claimed a narrow split-decision victory for the biggest win of her career against former champion Holly Holm. The Brazilian earned 48-47 cards from two judges, while the third judge scored the fight 48-47 in favor of Holm.

The third round of the fight ended up being the difference on the scorecards, likely due to Vieira appearing to rock Holm late in the round. She also very nearly submitted the former champion in the second round.

In the co-main event, Michel Pereira improved his welterweight win streak to five with his own split-decision over Santiago Ponzinibbio. All three judges agreed that Pereira took the first round, but rounds two and three were much less clear. Pereira ended up walking away with a 30-27 and 29-28 scorecard to get the victory.

The results of the main and co-main events brought the event full-circle, as the main card opening bout between middleweights Eryk Anders and Junyong Park also went to a split decision. Park ended up getting the nod in a back-and-forth fight where none of the three rounds received a unanimous score from the judges.

In the only unanimous decision on the main card, Tabatha Ricci picked up her second UFC victory against fellow Brazilian Polyana Viana. “Baby Shark” won rounds 2 and 3 on all three judge’s scorecards.

The only fight of the UFC Vegas 55 main card to not go the distance was the middleweight bout between Chidi Njokuani and Duško Todorovi?. After Todorovi? was able to use his wrestling to control the majority of the opening round, Njokuani landed a vicious elbow to get the knockout victory.

You can check out the full results and highlights from the event here.

What do you think of the judge’s scorecards for this event? Which results do you agree or disagree with?

Continue Reading Photos: Official Scorecards For The UFC Vegas 55 Main Card at MMA News.

Fighters React To Pereira Outlasting Ponzinibbio At UFC Vegas 55

Michel Pereira is now on a five-fight win streak after defeating Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC Vegas 55 tonight. Pereira earned a razor-thin split decision victory in what was an absolute war with Ponzinibbio. Round one took place on the feet, with Pereira getting the best of the action. And the Brazilian continued to cause problems…

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Michel Pereira is now on a five-fight win streak after defeating Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC Vegas 55 tonight.

Pereira earned a razor-thin split decision victory in what was an absolute war with Ponzinibbio. Round one took place on the feet, with Pereira getting the best of the action. And the Brazilian continued to cause problems for Ponzinibbio in round two before the Argentine answered with some huge strikes and a late takedown.

Then in round three, both fighters emptied the gas tank as they went back and forth trading huge strikes, putting on a display that is surely a contender for round of the year. With this win over the #14-ranked welterweight Ponzinibbio, we can expect Pereira to enter the division’s top 15 in the coming days.

You can catch all the highlights of the co-main event below.

This was Michel Pereira’s fifth win in a row.

Now, let’s see how fighters reacted to Pereira’s victory over Ponzinibbio at UFC Vegas 55.

UFC Vegas 55: Holm vs. Vieira Results & Highlights

MMA News is providing ongoing coverage of UFC Vegas 55. We’ve got you covered with live results, video highlights, and post-fight tidbits.

Continue Reading Fighters React To Pereira Outlasting Ponzinibbio At UFC Vegas 55 at MMA News.

Michel Pereira Defeats Santiago Ponzinibbio In Split Decision War – UFC Vegas 55 Highlights

Michel PereiraMichel Pereira continues his run through the welterweight ranks of the UFC — this time securing the most high-profile victory of his Octagon tenure in the form of a hard-fought split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) victory against Argentine veteran, Santiago Ponzinibbio in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 55. Pereira, who entered tonight’s co-main event […]

Michel Pereira

Michel Pereira continues his run through the welterweight ranks of the UFC — this time securing the most high-profile victory of his Octagon tenure in the form of a hard-fought split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) victory against Argentine veteran, Santiago Ponzinibbio in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 55.

Pereira, who entered tonight’s co-main event slot against Ponzinibbio off the back of his February win over recent winner, Portuguese standout, Andre Fialho, managed to get the better of the Argentinian in the opening frame, before giving up the second round in a largely tight and close fight throughout.

Landing impactful strikes in the third, Pereira managed to leave the UFC Apex facility with his winning streak in tact — and now riding a five fight surge, Pereira echoed call outs of former welterweight title challenger, Jorge Masvidal, and Stockton fan favorite, Nate Diaz.

Below, catch the highlights from Michel Pereira’s battle with Santiago Ponzinibbio

Geoff Neal Says DWI Arrest Is ‘Not As Serious As They Make It Out To Be’

Geoff Neal may have recently been arrested on a DWI and weapons charge, but he is not letting that distract him from his fight at UFC 269.

It was recently reported that Neal had been arrested in the early hours of Thanksgiving Day and was facing mi…

Geoff Neal Arrest

Geoff Neal may have recently been arrested on a DWI and weapons charge, but he is not letting that distract him from his fight at UFC 269.

It was recently reported that Neal had been arrested in the early hours of Thanksgiving Day and was facing misdemeanor charges of DWI and unlawful carrying of a weapon. While he was released on bail several hours later, this did cause a bit of concern about the future of his UFC 269 fight with Santiago Ponzinibbio, which was scheduled to take place just 16 days after his arrest.

Now it has become clear that Neal will still fight at UFC 269 and was tasked with speaking to media ahead of this contest. Here, he opened up about what happened for the first time since his arrest. He did not want to comment much on the specifics but cleared the air on some issues.

“No comments on what really went down,” Neal said during the UFC 269 media day (h/t MMAFighting). “I haven’t been charged with any crime yet.

“Pretty much they had probable cause, and instead of doing the Breathalyzer, I chose to do the blood [test]. So I’m waiting on the results to come back on that and we’ll go from there.”

Geoff Neal
Photo courtesy of Collins County Sheriff’s Department

As far as the weapons charges go, Geoff Neal explained the gun found with him was registered to him legally. He felt that the reports about the situation were somewhat misleading, and were blowing things out of proportion.

“It was just a one-night thing,” Neal said. “Just decided to kick back and relax with my girlfriend. Had a few drinks and then there’s a situation that happened and then cops got involved. I did have my weapon on me. My weapon, it’s legal. It’s licensed in my name. They made it look like I had a MAC-10 in my lap, driving around drunk or something.

“It’s not as serious as they make it out to be. It’s not like I was drunk off my ass, hungover, just running the streets. It was a one-time thing.”

That said, there are fans of Geoff Neal, who may be concerned about his focus on training ahead of this fight, considering how far along he was in training camp when being arrested for a DWI. He assures that there is no reason to be concerned and that it was a one-time thing that was not indicative of how hard he trained.

“Not really [a distraction],” Neal said. “It is what it is. I’m the dumbass that did that so I’ve got to deal with it.”

Geoff Neal will be returning to action this weekend against Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC 269. Only then will fans be able to tell what impact, if any, this incident has had on him.

Watch his full media scrum below:

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Geoff Neal Arrested On DWI, Weapons Charges Days Out From UFC 269

Geoff Neal has experienced a bit of a rough patch ahead of his UFC 269 bout with Santiago Ponzinibbio.

Neal is looking to get back on track after losing two in a row for the first time in his career, by facing Ponzinibbio in the UFC’s final pay-per…

Geoff Neal

Geoff Neal has experienced a bit of a rough patch ahead of his UFC 269 bout with Santiago Ponzinibbio.

Neal is looking to get back on track after losing two in a row for the first time in his career, by facing Ponzinibbio in the UFC’s final pay-per-view event of the year. However, he will be doing so just days after having spent time in jail following an arrest in Texas.

According to reports, Neal was picked up by the Texas Department of Public Safety at 3:47 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, November 25th, just 16 days before his upcoming bout at UFC 269. He was arrested on misdemeanor charges of driving while intoxicated and unlawful carrying a weapon.

Geoff Neal was then taken to the Collin County Jail, in McKinney, where he was processed. After facing a bail amount of $1,000 for each charge, he was released from jail just after 8 p.m., that very same day.

At the time of writing, it appears that Neal will still be facing Ponzinibbio on December 11th. Additionally, neither he nor the UFC has released an official statement regarding this incident.

Geoff Neal is in need of a big win, after suffering back-to-back losses to Stephen Thompson and Neil Magny, which derailed his seven-fight winning streak. Prior to that, he was in the ICU for about a week dealing with septicemia, a blood infection that could have easily cost him his life.

Time will tell if this incident in Texas will have any effect on Neal’s conditioning for the fight or is an indication of the way his training camp went.

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