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Santiago Ponzinibbio is an Argentine UFC fighter with Italian parents.
Ponzinibbio was born in La Plata, Argentina on September 26, 1986. Although his parents are Italian, and his grandparents are from Sicily, ‘Argentine Dagger’ proudly represents his birthplace.
Ponzinibbio started his combat sports journey by training in kickboxing as a teenager. In July 2008, he made his professional MMA debut on the Argentine regional scene. ‘Argentine Dagger’ won his first 11 fights in Argentina and Brazil. After losing for the first time in July 2011, he won seven more times before being invited to compete on The Ultimate Fighter Brazil Season 2.
‘Argentine Dagger’ made a statement on TUF Brazil, winning four consecutive fights against Thiago Silva, Marcio Santos, Cleiton Duarte, and Leonardo Santos. Unfortunately, he suffered a broken arm and couldn't compete in the finals.
Despite not winning TUF Brazil, Ponzinibbio was still awarded a UFC contract. He made his promotional debut in November 2013, losing to Ryan Lafare. ‘Argentine Dagger’ went on to win nine of his next 10 fights between 2014 and 2018, which ended with seven consecutive victories.
The Argentinian-born fighter had his momentum crushed due to a severe staph infection and COVID. After a two-year layoff, he returned to the Octagon in January 2021, losing to Li Jingliang at UFC on ABC 1. Since then, Ponzinibbio has gone 2-2, with his last fight being a knockout win against Alex Morono in December 2022.
Watch Santiago Ponzinibbio knock out Alex Morono below:
What’s next for Santiago Ponzinibbio?
Santiago Ponzinibbio’s next fight will be against Kevin Holland, who is coming off a main event loss to Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson. The intriguing 170-pound matchup goes down on April 8 at UFC 287 in Miami, Florida. Both fighters are unranked, but an impressive win could be enough to earn a spot in the welterweight rankings.
Ponzinibbio vs. Holland joins a stacked UFC 287 main card, headlined by Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya 2. In the co-main event, Gilbert Burns and Jorge Masvidal will look to take another step closer to a welterweight title shot. The April 8 main card is rounded off by Rob Font vs. Adrian Yanez and Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Christian Rodriguez.
