Tag: Santiago Ponzinibbio

Santiago Ponzinibbio comes to defense of Lionel Messi following Canelo Alvarez threats: ‘If you want to fight, I’m ready’

Santiago PonzinibbioUFC welterweight Santiago Ponzinibbio has come to the defense of fellow Argentinian Lionel Messi, following boxing star Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s outburst towards the footballer. Alvarez would take Twitter yesterday to lampoon footballing icon, Messi, following celebration scenes in the Argentina dressing room after their victory against Mexico in the FIFA World Cup. The boxer would […]

Santiago Ponzinibbio

UFC welterweight Santiago Ponzinibbio has come to the defense of fellow Argentinian Lionel Messi, following boxing star Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s outburst towards the footballer.

Alvarez would take Twitter yesterday to lampoon footballing icon, Messi, following celebration scenes in the Argentina dressing room after their victory against Mexico in the FIFA World Cup.

The boxer would accuse Messi of wiping the floor with the Mexican flag, affronted by a Mexico jersey on the floor, ‘Canelo’ would even go as far as to threaten Messi saying that he hoped God does not let him find him.

While it’s never good to hear that one of the greatest boxers in the world is after you, Messi will at least have some comfort knowing Santiago Ponzinibbio has his back.

Talking to MMAFighting, Santiago Ponzinibbio would come to the defense of his countryman, saying that ‘Canelo’ should fight him instead of the ‘respectful’ Messi.

“I was pissed,” Ponzinibbio said. “No point threatening Messi. Everybody knows Messi’s career. If [Alvarez] doesn’t know he shouldn’t say a thing. It’s normal for players to throw jerseys on the ground, they are all sweaty, but he didn’t do anything disrespectful. Everybody that knows Messi knows he’s an impeccable athlete and a very respectful person.”

[Messi] had an excellent match,” Ponzinibbio continued. “I was upset. Brother, if you want to fight, I’m ready, but leave Messi be. You mess with Messi, you mess with the entire Argentina. Don’t bother the kid.” (H/T MMAFighting)

Ponzinibbio is set to face former UFC champion Robbie Lawler on the undercard of UFC 282, which should make for an exciting matchup. The 36-year-old will also be hoping to get back to winning ways following two back-to-back split decision losses.

As for Messi, he and the Argentinian national team will hope to make it to the knockout stages of the world cup, taking on Poland in an important tomorrow night.

How would Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez go?

Jake Matthews Calls Out Santiago Ponzinibbio To “Stand Toe-To-Toe” With “Another Elite Striker”

Jake Matthews, Santiago PonzinibbioJake Matthews has called for a battle against Santiago Ponzinibbio. This past weekend, Jake Matthews secured the biggest win of his career against Andre Fialho at UFC 275. The difference in the striking abilities between the pair was evident with Matthews showing an exemplary display of boxing. He knocked down Fialho before finishing him in […]

Jake Matthews, Santiago Ponzinibbio

Jake Matthews has called for a battle against Santiago Ponzinibbio.

This past weekend, Jake Matthews secured the biggest win of his career against Andre Fialho at UFC 275. The difference in the striking abilities between the pair was evident with Matthews showing an exemplary display of boxing. He knocked down Fialho before finishing him in the second round.

Coming off the biggest win of his career, ‘The Celtic Kid’ is looking to challenge himself opposite another high-level striker in the division. Following an impressive run of seven wins in his last nine in the UFC, Matthews is looking to take on Santiago Ponzinibbio to get closer to the welterweight gold.

Jake Matthews calls out Santiago Ponzinibbio

In a post shared on his Instagram, Matthews called out the Argentine.

“PLEASE SHARE AND SPREAD THE WORD
@sponzinibbiomma It would be an honour!
Let’s stand toe to toe for the fans! @ufc @ufcanz“

Matthews earned a Performance of the Night bonus for dispatching Fialho by knockout. He went a step further and offered to give Ponzinibbio half the bonus he expects to win if the outing goes as expected.

Matthews came in as a big underdog in his lastest bout and cashed in with a win. He wants to prove that his victory was not a fluke and that his performance has leveled up.

Ponzinibbio is reeling off two consecutive losses by a split decision. He dropped one to Geoff Neal and then Michel Pereira in his most recent fight at UFC Fight Night 206. He expressed his disappointment with the results and believed that he was unfairly treated by the judges on both occasions.

Before his win over Fialho this past Saturday, Matthews was coming off more than a year-long layoff following a defeat to Sean Brady by submission last March. Matthews is still only 27 despite joining the UFC roster in 2014 and has a good amount of experience under his belt at a young age.

Would you like to see Matthews vs. 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…

Continue Reading UFC Vegas 55 Performance Bonus Winners at MMA News.

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?

Continue Reading UFC Vegas 55 Performance Bonus Winners at MMA News.

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…

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

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…

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

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