By FCF Staff

Santiago Ponzinibbio has wracked up several losses in recent years and is no longer ranked in the top 15 of the UFC’s welterweight ranks, and it’s clear the Argentine fighter doesn’t believe that should be the case.

It wasn’t that long ago, really, when Ponzinibbio was in the title shot mix thanks to a seven-fight winning. That run was snapped via a KO loss to Li Jingliang in 2021. But, Ponzinibbio rebounded with a decision win over Miguel Baeza later that year.

Since then, however, the now 38-year-old fighter has gone 1-4. But, three of those defeats came via split decision against Geoff Neal, Michel Pereira, and most recently, Muslim Salikhov. So, while speaking with MMA Fighting, Ponzinibbio (29-8) acknowledged that two of those defeats are fueling his drive as he prepares to fight Carlston Harris on Saturday.

“I have to use this [anger] to my advantage,” Ponzinibbio said. “It has happened twice in my career, two wrong decisions against Michel Pereira and Muslim Salikhov. I think I won those two. It pisses me off that I lost three split decisions, fights I’m confident I won. It pisses me off that that happened, but I use that as fire. Fire to focus in training and adjust and go for the next one. I can’t complain or cry about it, I have to move forward.”

“I would be down to rematch any fighter that unfortunately I wasn’t able to win,” Ponzinibbio added. “We know it’s hard to get rematches in the UFC, it’s not that simple, but let’s see what the plans are for the company in 2025. What I really want for this year is to get a good win Saturday, a clean victory, and stay active. I want to fight three [in 2025] — or four times, since I’m fighting on the first card. That’s the goal now.”

The 37-year-old Harris (19-6) is coming off a KO loss to Khaos Williams in May and is 3-2 in his last 5 bouts.

UFC Vegas 101 will be hosted by the Apex facility.