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Santiago Ponzinibbio’s return to MMA didn’t go as planned.
The Argentine returned to action at UFC on ABC 1 on Saturday in Abu Dhabi after a layoff of more than two years. Ponzinibbio (27-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC), who hadn’t competed since November 2018, suffered a first-round knockout loss to Li Jingliang.
It was an unfortunate result for Ponzinibbio, who was more than a 3-1 favorite in the fight. He was coming back from an infection that almost cost his life; a broken toe; and a month’s worth of positive tests for COVID-19. It was a long road back for the 34-year-old, who was looking to make a big statement in his return.
“I have no words to describe the sadness I feel,” Ponzinibbio wrote on Instagram. “I wanted to return giving a victory, you deserve it for so much support. I worked very hard for this event, a whole year of preparation but this sport is like that, there is a part out of control, a blow that comes in and everything ends. I want to thank all the messages and the love of always! All my life I forged it on adversity, this time it will be no different. I’m coming back stronger than ever.”
The defeat to Jingliang snapped a seven-fight winning streak for Ponzinibbio. Prior to his career coming to a halt in 2018, Ponzinibbio was ranked in the top 10 of the UFC’s official welterweight rankings.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from April 2024: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for April. At the bottom of the post, let us know...
Fighters are often criticized for failing to prioritize their financial interests in their MMA careers, but no such accusation can be made toward Irish prospect Paul Hughes. Hughes (11-1), a former Cage Warriors champion, just went through the process of free agency and had bids on the table from...
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