Preview: UFC 282 ‘Blachowicz vs. Ankalaev’

Catchweight

Santiago Ponzinibbio (28-6, 10-5 UFC) vs. Alex Morono (22-7, 11-4 UFC)

ODDS: Ponzinibbio (-175), Morono (+150)

He has not found much in the way of recent success, but it has still been good to see Ponzinibbio avoid becoming a tragic case. There is still a bit of “what if” surrounding the career of the “Argentine Dagger,” however. A dominant main event win over Neil Magny in the UFC’s Buenos Aires debut figured to be the launching pad for bigger things that never came. The Magny win, which occurred at the tail end of 2018, capped a seven-fight winning streak that marked Ponzinibbio as a reliable action fighter and potential title contender; it also marked the Argentinian’s last fight for over two years, as a cascade of injuries and a career-threatening staph infection caused him to miss all of 2019 and 2020. Ponzinibbio understandably looked flat upon his 2021 return and was still feeling things out before he quickly got knocked out by Jingliang Li, effectively nullifying the last of his previous momentum. The worry was that Ponzinibbio was also completely shot as a fighter, but he has thankfully recaptured a shade of his previous form in his last few fights. He is still obviously diminished, but he has gutted out 15 minutes of tough fighting against Miguel Baeza, Geoff Neal and Michel Pereira. He beat Baeza and took the other two to split decisions. If nothing else, Ponzinibbio can still hold his own in a war—something that a late replacement opponent in Morono figures to test out.

This serves as Morono’s highest-profile fight in some time, but “The Great White” has carved out a niche for himself as an exciting fighter and reliable late-notice replacement. Morono is not much of an athlete and can often appear awkward, but he has tapped over a decade of experience to become a smart and crafty veteran, channeling his aggression to take advantage of his opponent’s defensive openings. Morono’s two most recent losses—defeats against Kalinn Williams and Anthony Pettis in 2020—show that he can still run into a physical wall, but he is currently riding a four-fight winning streak that has made the most of his tools. A 2021 win over Donald Cerrone was ostensibly Morono’s breakout performance, but it was also a pleasure to see him pick apart the raw but much more athletic Matthew Semelsberger in a fun fight in August. This should be non-stop action and Morono could simply wind up outmaneuvering Ponzinibbio’s pressure and racking up volume, but the Argentinian gets the nod as the harder shot-for-shot hitter. Plus, with any Morono fight, there is always the possibility that he immediately gets caught cold. The pick is Ponzinibbio by decision.

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Blachowicz vs. Ankalaev
Pimblett vs. Gordon
Ponzinibbio vs. Morono
Du Plessis vs. Till
Topuria vs. Mitchell
The Prelims