Santiago Ponzinibbio Edges Mike Perry In Bloody Brawl In Winnipeg
Mike Perry vs Santiago Ponzinibbio promised fireworks and fans weren’t left disappointed by the fight that played out in front of them in Winnipeg last evening.
Both men promised it would be a stand-up war and that’s exactly how it started as both men looked to use their footwork to get into range. The crowd chanted ‘Perry, Perry, Perry’ as he took the centre of the cage, but Pozinibbio played a patient game on the outside looking for openings.
The Argentine landed several outside leg kicks as Perry look to cut the cage off, but he didn’t unfussed and he landed a grazing right hand that knocked Pozinibbio off balance for a second. Perry then landed another right hand that stunned the Argentine, but Ponzinibbio spun away and landed a spinning back fist to knock Perry off balance and send him to the mat for a brief second before the end of the round.
Perry tried to push the pace again in round two but he was loading up on strikes that Ponzinibbio was for the most part avoiding. The American landed a left hand that looked like a shook Ponzinibbio for a second, but he regained his composure and started to fire the outside leg kicks again. Both men then traded stiff jabs and a wild exchange of hooks saw both men land with two minutes left on the clock in the second.
Ponzinibbio then hurt Perry with a sweet left hook, but Perry recovered and continued to walk forward firing in shots. Blood was streaming from the face of both men as the strikes continued to land and before the round closed they both landed crisp left hooks.
The final five minutes began with the crowd cheering both men as they exited their corners. Perry appeared to be the fresher of the two, but Pozinibbio still fired in counters with success as Perry threw wild strikes walking forwards. A massive moment in the fight then happened when Perry caught Ponzinibbio with a big right hand. Just as Perry looked to swarm him, Ponzinibbio landed a huge spinning back elbow that knocked Perry to the mat.
Santiago Ponzinibbio defeats Mike Perry in a straight slugfest! #UFCWinnipeg https://t.co/cgDIvL0BHb
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) December 17, 2017
Perry looked to get back on his feet, but Pozinibbio took him down to the mat. Perry popped back up, but Pozinibbio pushed him against the fence and put on his back again with 90-seconds left on the clock. Perry desperately tried to get back on his feet and he did with just 20-seconds left. Ponzinibbio then back away as the clock run down and the fight ended.
It was a great fight and after 15-minutes breathless minutes, it went to the judges. All three judges scored it 29-28 to Ponzinibbio who must now be considered a real threat to top-5 at 170-pounds.
