Santiago Ponzinibbio and his most notable encounter in the UFC: “Everything was given to make it a historic fight”

The Argentine mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter with the most fights and presence in the UFC, Santiago Ponzinibbio, will return to the octagon next Saturday, May 21, at the event the company will hold at the UFC APEX stadium in Las Vegas. He will do this before a remarkable and blockbuster rival.

It’s about the Brazilian Michael Pereirawho became famous for his somersaults and unorthodox moves inside the cage, and where viral videos got him a tryout at the most well -known sports promotion company.

He was a fighter who was really insane, and his UFC debut came in May 2018, where he was able to fulfill high expectations of him, beating Danny Roberts with a flying knee and a brutal right hand.

But his second clash with the company was the opposite: he fell on points against unknown Canadian Tristan Connelly, who accepted the challenge at very short notice. Also, now Pereira is coming on a roll: four consecutive wins.

For his part, “the dagger“Argentina (“Argentine Dagger “), the last nickname of”rasta“either”boa people“(other ways to call it), he entered with a 28-5 record (10-4 in the UFC).

This is his fourth fight, after spending two years without action due to various physical problems that include a dangerous blood infection. From his return he fell on his return against the Chinese Jingliang Li by knockout, he unanimously defeated the then prospect Miguel Baeza (who was undefeated) and on his last appearance he fell by split decision against Geoff Neal in December.

Within hours of the crash, he spoke Clarion about how it is and what the chances are to see another UFC night in Argentina.

-M Michel Pereira has a very unorthodox style: what do you have to watch out for in a fighter like that?

-He is an amazing fighter, a different fighter, unusual in your reference to him. He is unpredictable, has knockout power and lots of physical explosions. This makes it quite dangerous.

-What will be your plan?

-You have to be attentive, follow his movements. I think the key is putting pressure on him., don’t give him space to do his crazy things and be creative. I worked on putting good pressure on him and being accommodating. I have to work hard on hypocrisy, to see the dangers it offers. Reduce the distance, put pressure on him, volume blows, be alive with legs to escape attacks but come back right away, and don’t give him space.

-Do you think this might be the most “seeing” or catchy fight since you were in the UFC?

– Of course, this is one of the most important battles of my career. It will sell very well for its style and me. He’s doing well, with four wins, it’s the co-main event of the night … Really all set to make it a historic battle in the weight division.

-I know you may not want to get ahead of yourself, but suppose you win: what do you think might be the next step?

-The truth is that the focus is on him. I don’t want to think about things in the future, but it’s clearly moving forward. With the number of fights I have in the division, it would have been nice if someone came with a good rank to bring me closer to the title. Now we’re focusing on Saturday, but surely a good win will leave me on the brink of having a fight near there.

-Weight loss: are you worth more, less or the same as it did a few years ago?

– It’s always hard. The truth is I prepare well, I do it very well and in a very orderly way. But every time you lose weight you suffer. Dehydration is difficult, we lose a lot of weight, some have more than others, but we lose a lot. So, it feels like. But I’m fine. With the experience I have, I think I am getting better. Besides, I have very good energy in the week of the fight so no hindrance.

-How many times have you said that you are fighting to the death and then you are not afraid of anyone. What motivates you every day?

-For those who know the story of my life, there are many ups and downs. From a fairly simple and daring start to how I started, that I went to Brazil with nothing. Then, what happened to me when I was knocking on the door of the world title, ranking number 6: I got sick and they removed me from the ranking. It all touched me even though I didn’t know if I could fight back… I think a lot has happened to me. This is what motivates me to reach the highest. I knew I had all the potential to be a world champion, and as long as I had the strength I would die fighting for it. And represent all my people who have given me so much and continue to give to me all this time.

– What do you like most in your routine and least?

– The truth is when you’re in rhythm, training, and you’ve seen technical evolution … it’s the best thing there is. When someone starts to prepare a strategy, some movements and at first do not come out, and then you will see that everything comes together and it will come out. That’s great, in terms of sports. What I didn’t like was when I woke up very sick and I knew I still needed to go to the gym and exercise. With high performance, a person learns to live with the disease and sometimes becomes heavy. But consistency gives good results.

-The welterweight category now has one of the most dominant champions at the moment (the best pound for pound in the rankings, Kamaru Usman), and then it seems anyone can beat anyone. How do you analyze it?

-Everyday is the most competitive category. Many athletes, the one with the most inside the UFC, nearly double and even triple the other divisions. The game has knockout power, submission power, very competitive. With a dominant champion, which is a fight that I love and I was going to fight him in Chile and it didn’t happen. But we are still looking for that path. I want to fight the best in the world and this division motivates me a lot.

-Do you think as Argentina is economical, a UFC event could be repeated in Buenos Aires?

-The idea came back. We planned it for 2020 and the pandemic came. We will do it again. We do this and surely next year we will be able to do it. It depends on a lot of things, also because of the pandemic, but soon I’m sure we’ll be back.