Santiago Ponzinibbio Seeks Ranked Foe, Willing to Face Khamzat Chimaev

Santiago Ponzinibbio isn’t one to back down from a challenge.

Shortly after Khamzat Chimaev declared on his video blog that four different opponents have turned down a fight against him, Ponzinibbio called out the Chechen star for a clash in the Octagon.

"I thought he was going to fight Colby [Covington], and I was planning to ask UFC to put me as reserve fighter in case either one of them got hurt,” he told Sherdog.com. “Now that I know the fight hasn’t been finalized, it’s even better. Hey UFC, I’m here.”

Ponzinibbio dealt with some adversity recently, as he lost back-to-back fights for the first time in his career, falling to Geoff Neal and Michel Pereira via split decision.

"I never lost two fights in a row” he said. “Personally I don’t think I lost to Neal or Pereira, but what counts is the red mark on your Sherdog [profile],” he said. Ponzinibbio returned to the win colum at UFC 282, defeating Alex Morono via third-round technical knockout on Dec. 10.

"When I went to the third round against Morono and my trainer told me I was losing the first two rounds,” he said. “I entered the third round planning on getting a finish, and that’s what I did, getting a knockout win.”

The following week was also emotional for the Argentinean, when he witnessed his home country win the World Cup.

"I was born in 1986, the same year [Diego] Maradona gave us our second World Cup,” he said. “Being able to see [Lionel] Messi win the third one just a week after my win in a game against France that is considered one of the best of all-time was something unbelievable. I saw the game with hundreds of Argentineans in Florida. I felt like I was in Buenos Aires.”

After taking the past two weeks off, Ponzinibbio is back at American Top Team to train. He’s ready for the UFC to give him his next right.

“I’ve won nine of my last 12 fights … I deserve to be back in the rankings, and I’ll prove that if the UFC gives me a fight against anyone who is ranked,” he said.