In the co-main event of tomorrow night’s UFC Denver card, we are going to see a battle between two welterweight veterans. Santiago Ponzinibbio (29-7) will look to right the ship as he takes on Russian welterweight Muslim Salikhov (19-5).
The Denver card took a lot of hits and while this fight should be entertaining, a fight between two vets who both are entering the octagon 1-3 in their last four fights doesn’t say co-main event. However, it’s the fight that will be the second to last fight of the evening and it honestly should be a fun matchup.
Muslim Salikhov made his UFC debut back in 2017 with a 13-1 professional record. After losing his octagon debut, he won five straight fights which earned him some serious momentum in the division. However, in 2022 he was knocked out by Li Jingliang and that started this stretch where the “King of Kung Fu” is just 1-3 in his last four.
Back in 2018, if you asked around, you’d find a lot of people who thought Santiago Ponzinibbio was going to be a future UFC champion. At the time, Ponzinibbio had just destroyed Neil Magny by knockout and had won seven fights in a row. Then, the injury bug hit his career in a bad way.
After the Magny knockout, it took Ponzinibbio over two years to return to the octagon. When he did return, he was knocked out by Li Jingliang in the first round. He bounced back well defeating Miguel Baeza but has since gone just 1-3 in his last four. Most recently he was knocked out by Kevin Holland at UFC 287.
UFC Denver Prediction
I’m expecting a good start for Muslim Salikhov tomorrow night. The King of Kung Fu does have really good striking and I think he will actually pull out to an early advantage over Ponzinibbio. However, if he cannot find a finish in the first round, I really see him fading in this matchup especially at altitude.
Starting in the second round, I’m expecting Ponzinibbio to take over this fight. By the third round, I think Ponzinibbio will hurt Salikhov and ultimately get a finish at UFC Denver. While these are two aging contenders, I think there’s more in the tank left for Ponzinibbio than there is Salikhov and I think that’ll show tomorrow night.
Prediction: Santiago Ponzinibbio by TKO