Outside Source
Santiago
Ponzinibbio waited more than two years to return to the
Octagon, but his first appearance since November 2018 was over in
less than five minutes.
The 34-year-old Argentina native suffered a first-round knockout
loss at the hands of Jingliang
Li in a featured welterweight bout at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi
on Saturday, ending a seven-bout winning streak that began in
December 2015. “Gente Boa” had a chance to re-establish himself as
one of the 170-pound division’s top contenders with a victory after
an a lengthy absence that included a serious bacterial infection, a
broken toe and a battle with COVID-19. Now, he has to rebuild.
Ponzinibbio issued a heartfelt statement via Instagram on the heels
of his loss to Li.
I have no words to describe the sadness I feel,” he wrote. “I
wanted to return giving a victory, you deserve it for so much
support. I worked very hard for this event, a whole year of
preparation but this sport is like that, there is a part out of
control, a blow that comes in and everything ends. I want to thank
all the messages and the love of always! All my life I forged it on
adversity, this time it will be no different. I’m coming back
stronger than ever.”
Ponzinibbio owns a 27-4 career mark that includes notable victories
against the likes of Neil Magny,
Mike
Perry, Gunnar
Nelson, Court McGee
and Sean
Strickland.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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