Santiago Ponzinibbio enhanced his growing reputation in the UFC’s 170-pound fold on Sunday, earning a first round finish of Gunnar Nelson in the main event of the organisation’s return to Glagow, Scotland.
The Argentinian striker caught Nelson with a right hand early in the first round and followed up with a blitz against the cage which sent the Icelander to the canvas, winning via strikes on the ground inside the first two minutes of the bout. Prior to the finish Nelson had been looking the sharper of the two fighters on the fight, blitzing his opponent with quick strikes — including one particularly potent uppercut — but cited an eye-poke he received during an an exchange as being a contributing factor to the conclusion of the fight.
“Right in the beginning I caught him with an uppercut,” Nelson said in the post-fight press conference. “But he caught me with … I think it was a left thumb or something to my right eye at the same time, so I was seeing double. Because I caught him I thought, ‘Well I have him on the run there, I could finish this fight.’ I think that was the biggest mistake I done in this fight. I’m not saying if I didn’t get caught by that I would have seen the shot coming or whatever. It is what it is.”
Wooooooow! 😱
Lights out for @GunniNelson… Devastating first-round KO from @SPonzinibbioMMA! 👊 #UFCGlasgow pic.twitter.com/NrNUaOYAZX
— BT Sport UFC (@btsportufc) July 16, 2017
It was a disappointing night for the hometown fighters, as all three Scots on the card were defeated. In the co-main event Joanne Calderwood was out-pointed by Cynthia Calvillio, a fighter with a blossoming reputation in the strawweight division while Stevie Ray was TKO’d by a barrage of elbows on the ground courtesy of Paul Felder.
Devastating knee 😬
Brutal elbows 💪@felderpaul is the first person to ever knock Stevie Ray out! 👊 #UFCGlasgow pic.twitter.com/j7xSVkK0ad— BT Sport UFC (@btsportufc) July 16, 2017
Scotland’s Paul Craig also came up short after his light heavyweight bout with Khalil Rountree was ended four seconds before the conclusion of the first round via ground strikes to complete a trifecta of hometown defeats for the Scottish fans in attendance.
Elsewhere on the main card, Jack Marshman won a decision against Ryan Janes while Justin Willis did the same in a heavyweight bout opposite England’s James Mulheron.
Team Ryano’s Neil Seery entered the octagon for the final time but didn’t manage to end his MMA career with a win as he succumbed to a third round rear naked choke courtesy of Alexandre Pantoja in an enthralling flyweight contest, while SBG’s Charlie Ward was unsuccessful in his second UFC bout as he was defeated in the first round by Galore Bofando.
No, thank you @NeilSeeryMMA! 👏 pic.twitter.com/Kq7PUnEJ0r
— BT Sport UFC (@btsportufc) July 16, 2017
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