Santiago Ponzinibbio (27-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) beat Neil Magny (21-7 MMA, 14-6 UFC) via fourth-round in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 140 at Parque Roca Arena in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Ponzinibbio quickly took the lead in this welterweight showdown with a jab that injured his opponent in the right eye in the first round. He has again solidly reached it on the right in the last seconds of this round.
In the second, it was kicks that made Magny fall, while Ponzinibbio was himself cut to the left eye due to a head-on collision. In subsequent rounds, Magny tried to resist the Argentinian attacks.
Ponzinibbio thus extends his series of consecutive wins to seven, he who is tenth in the category of 170 pounds. He hopes to have the chance to fight for the welterweight title held by American Tyron Woodley in 2019.
“This is a dream come true. For a long time, I’ve been trying to bring UFC to Argentina, headline the event at home, with the crowd by my side, it was incredible.” Ponzinibbio said.
“After 11 months away, I tried to give the fans the best show possible and got a knockout. Neil was a tough opponent, like I knew he would be.
“I know I have what it takes to be the next champion. I hope to fight for the belt next, and I’m ready for it. If not, I would like to face the winner of [Rafael] dos Anjos vs [Kamaru] Usman and maybe get the title shot afterwards.” he added
Santiago Ponzinibbio (right) calls out current UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley. (Source:www.youtube.com)
Magny is the eighth midshipman. He had won his last two fights against former interim welterweight Carlos Condit and against Craig White in 2017 and last May.
Meanwhile in the semifinal, Ricardo Lamas put Darren Elkins out of action by TKO at 4:09 of round 3 to triumph. Back in the second round, Elkins was in pretty bad shape. Lamas had also taken care to continually hit his left leg, diminished to wear.
In the third, while Elkins was lying on his back, Lamas gave himself to his heart with his fists and the referee intervened 50 seconds from the end of the duel.
“My plan was to be really patient because he could turn against me at any time,” Lamas said after his victory.
