Welterweight
Mike Perry (11-1) vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio (25-3)ANALYSIS:: Even with a Robbie Lawler-Rafael dos Anjos fight topping the bill, Perry and Ponzinibbio are still viable candidates to take “Fight of the Night” honors in another clash of magnitude and one with two high-output, violent fighters.
Argentina’s Ponzinibbio, 31, has won five in a row since a second-round knockout loss to Lorenz Larkin in June 2015. It is worth noting -- since toughness will be a formative issue here -- that the Larkin loss was a bout in which Ponzinibbio had already weathered the worst of the “Monsoon’s” storm and had made it to his feet before being stopped by referee Herb Dean. Anyhow, as reflected in his last outing, a July upset of Gunnar Nelson in just 82 seconds, he is a sharp puncher who uses forward pressure and punching to lure in his opponents before trying to light them up on the counter, just as he did to Nelson. When he zaps opponents, he is incredibly accurate in picking his punches to polish them off, and when he works over the 15 minutes, he is throwing upwards of 100 significant strikes.
Perry has cultivated a cult status by being an unwittingly hilarious MMA stereotype and an incredibly exciting 170-pound prospect, quickly putting together a 4-1 UFC mark with four vicious knockouts in 16 months. His lone loss, a unanimous decision defeat to Alan Jouban 12 months ago, was still a wild and woolly brawl. Perry is far from a finished product, but he is already growing into the mold of a sharp, technical brawler, adroit in the pocket and especially in the clinch. He has two-handed power, eight-point striking and a knack for landing explosive counters. His knockdown rate of 2.58 per 15 minutes is the third highest in UFC history. He is more defensively porous than Ponzinibbio and not quite the natural boxer, but he is far more offensively diverse and attacks from multiple ranges.
Offensive diversity could be formative here. One key aspect to Jouban beating Perry, other than his southpaw left cross, was his steady diet of kicks that turned Perry into an impatient free-swinger. Ponzinibbio has a strong kicking arsenal and has shown it as recently as his April 2016 bout with Court McGee, yet he has trended away from it, relying more steadfastly on high-volume pressure boxing. Whether marching forward or countering an aggressive Perry off the back foot, the American Top Team rep would be well served to harken back to some earlier form and integrate the kicking offense to disrupt the “Platinum” one.
Both men are viable knockout threats here, more so Perry because of the single-shot power, but Ponzinibbio, too, because of his superior combination boxing and accurate follow-ups. Still, the Argentinian does have a solid chin and the punching ability to make Perry an overeager haymaker machine. Ponzinibbio wins via back-and-forth decision in an outstanding face-punching match.
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