The UFC has finalized a banger of a matchup in their welterweight division. John Morgan of The Underground was the first to report yesterday that the promotion had closed a deal for a welterweight contest between Santiago Ponzinibbio (28-5) and Michel Pereira (27-11).
This fight is expected to take place at a UFC Fight Night on May 21st. This is a huge opportunity for Pereira who is looking to really establish himself in the welterweight rankings with a potential win.
Entering this fight night, Pereira is going to be riding a four-fight win streak. In that streak he has wins over the likes of Niko Price and Khaos Williams. He most recently fought back at UFC 270 when he took on Andre Fialho.
This matchup against Ponzinibbio is going to be the toughest fight he’s had since making his UFC debut back in 2019. Thus far inside the octagon, Pereira has had a record of 5-2.
UFC’s Argentinian Contender
As mentioned, standing across from Pereira at this fight night is going to be Argentina’s Santiago Ponzinibbio. There was a point in time a couple of years ago where Ponzinibbio was being looked at as a future UFC champion.
He had gone on a seven-fight win streak which included wins over Neil Magny, Mike Perry, and Gunnar Nelson. However, injuries slowed down the progress of Ponzinibbio and he sat out for more than two years after the Magny win.
Upon his return, he was knocked out by Li Jingliang. He bounced back strong by beating Miguel Baeza. However, he suffered another set back in his most recent fight. The last time we saw him was against Geoff Neal at UFC 269.
Ponzinibbio had his moments but ultimately lost a split decision. Now, he’s going to look to re-establish himself and get back on track with a big win. These two are two of the more exciting guys in the division and this fight should be fireworks.