Santiago Ponzinibbio

Santiago Ponzinibbio (born September 26, 1986) is an Argentine mixed martial artist competing as a Welterweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

He also works as a UFC color commentator for the UFC Spanish broadcasts on UFC Español.

He was born in Argentina to parents of Italian heritage, with paternal grandparents from Sicily.

Ponzinibbio began training kickboxing when he was 13 years old growing up in Argentina.

Ponzinibbio became interested in MMA, but there were too few local gyms in which he could pursue it.

As a result, Ponzinibbio traveled to Florianópolis, Brazil, where he lived the first five months in a tent on a beach, doing some odd jobs to try make ends meet.

Meanwhile, he trained at several nearby gyms.

He turned professional in 2008 competing in regional promotions in South America.

Ponzinibbio racked a record of 18–1 in the Latin America regional circuit before trying out for The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 2.

In March 2013, it was revealed that Ponzinibbio was a cast member of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 2.

He won his elimination fight to get into the TUF house, defeating Thiago Silva by TKO in round 1.

He was the second pick for Team Nogueira.

Over the course of the show, Ponzinibbio defeated Marcio Santos by TKO and Cleiton Duarte by unanimous decision to reach the semifinals.

In the semifinals, he defeated Leonardo Santos by unanimous decision.

However, Ponzinibbio broke his hand during this semifinal fight and was replaced by Santos in the finals against William Macário.

The semifinal-round fight with Santos, however, was picked as the Fight of the Season, and his finish of Marcio Santos earned Knockout of the Season which earned Ponzinibbio $50,000 bonuses.

Ponzinibbio faced Ryan LaFlare on November 9, 2013, at UFC Fight Night 32.

LaFlare won the fight via unanimous decision.

Ponzinibbio was briefly linked to a bout with Jordan Mein on April 19, 2014, at UFC on Fox 11.

However, Ponzinibbio was removed from the bout and replaced by Hernani Perpetuo.

Ponzinibbio was expected to face Ildemar Alcântara on July 5, 2014, at UFC 175.

However, Ponzinibbio was forced out of the bout with a knee injury.

He was replaced by Kenny Robertson.

Ponzinibbio was expected to face Sérgio Moraes on September 13, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 51.

However, Moraes pulled out of the bout citing a lingering knee injury and was replaced by Wendell Oliveira.

Ponzinibbio defeated Oliveira by TKO in the first round.

Ponzinibbio faced Sean Strickland on February 22, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 61.

Ponzinibbio won the back and forth fight via unanimous decision.

Ponzinibbio next faced Lorenz Larkin on June 27, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 70.

He lost the fight via TKO in the second round and earned a Fight of the Night bonus.

Ponzinibbio faced Andreas Ståhl on December 10, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 80.

He won the bout via TKO in the first round.

Ponzinibbio faced Court McGee on April 16, 2016, at UFC on Fox 19.

He won the bout via TKO in the first round.

Ponzinibbio next faced Zak Cummings on August 6, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 92.

He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Ponzinibbio faced Nordine Taleb on February 19, 2017, at UFC Fight Night 105.

He won the fight by unanimous decision.

Ponzinibbio faced Gunnar Nelson on July 16, 2017, at UFC Fight Night 113.

He won the fight by knockout in the first round, becoming the first man to finish Nelson by knockout in MMA competition.