Santiago Ponzinibbio had lobbied for a fight against Rafael dos Anjos (RDA) for months until he finally threw in the towel and decided to begin pursuing former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley instead. It is unclear whether or not Ponzinibbio will get that wish, either, but Rafael dos Anjos has revealed that Ponzinibbio shouldn’t hold his breath and that the reason Ponzinibbio did not get the Rafael dos Anjos fight is not because of anything on the dos Anjos end, but it is because of the same reason why RDA believes he won’t get the Woodley fight: Ponzinibbio’s own doing.
Having grown tired of the Santiago Ponzinibbio mentions, Rafael dos Anjos took to Twitter to set the record straight once and for all:
“People keep telling me to fight Ponzinibio, I wanted that fight too but he turned down Till in London now UFC don’t want to give him anybody higher than him on the rankings.Thats not my fault, i’m an employee and I follow orders,” dos Anjos wrote.
Santiago Ponzinibbio is currently ranked #8 in the welterweight division, dos Anjos is ranked #4, and prior to his loss to Jorge Masvidal at UFC London, Darren Till was ranked #3. If RDA is correct about the reason a fight between himself and Ponzinibbio did not materialize, it stands to reason that the UFC would not pair Ponzinibbio against the #1-ranked Tyron Woodley.
Coincidentally, the other fight to lose in a main event within the last two UFC fight cards, Stephen Thompson, also claims that Santiago Ponzinibbio turned down a fight against him as well. Rafael dos Anjos is currently scheduled to headline UFC Fight Night 151 against Kevin Lee on May 18th.
Do you believe Rafael dos Anjos’s version of events? Did Santiago Ponzinibbio not get the RDA fight because he turned down Darren Till for UFC London?
