Santiago Ponzinibbio says “scared” Rafael Dos Anjos won’t fight him

Despite rumblings of a potential matchup, Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Rafael Dos Anjos has yet to be officially signed.

The #7 ranked welterweight, “Ponz” spoke to MMAFighting and explained why he thinks the fight hasn’t been signed yet.

”The truth is he doesn’t want to fight me,” Ponzinibbio told MMAFighting. “He’s scared. It makes me want to beat him up even more because he says he’s in, but then turns it down to the matchmakers. He’s running from the fight. He’s scared. That pisses me off because he says something, but acts differently. Let’s see if he really wants to fight me or if he’s just talk. If he agrees to another fight, it’s pretty clear he’s scared to fight me.”

Ponzinibbio (27-3) is coming off an impressive fourth-round finish over Neil Magny at UFC Fight Night 140 in November. That victory put “Gente Boa” on a seven-fight win streak, including victories over Court McGee, Gunnar Nelson and Mike Perry. The 32-year-old is currently 9-2 in the octagon with five finishes. His last loss was a June 2015 TKO setback to Lorenz Larkin at UFC Fight Night 70. Ponzinibbio only fought once in 2018 and was slated to face Kamaru Usman last May at UFC Fight Night 129 before a hand injury pulled him off the card.

Dos Anjos (28-11) is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Kamaru Usman at The Ultimate Fighter 28 Finale in December. The former UFC lightweight champion was riding a three-fight win streak since moving up to the welterweight division in 2017. However since then, he’s lost back-to-back fights against Usman and Colby Covington. The 34-year-old has never lost three-straight fights in his career and is currently ranked #5 in the welterweight division. Dos Anjos boasts wins over Nate Diaz, Robbie Lawler and Donald Cerrone in his 39-fight career.

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