Neal vs Ponzinibbio

Who won Neal vs Ponzinibbio?

Geoff Neal beat Santiago Ponzinibbio by split decision in their 3 round contest during the main card of UFC 269, on Saturday 11th December 2021 at UFC APEX in Las Vegas.

The scorecards were announced as 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 in favor of the winner Geoff Neal.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Welterweight division, which meant the weight limit was 170 pounds (12.1 stone or 77.1 KG).

Neal vs Ponzinibbio stats

Geoff Neal stepped into the octagon with a record of 13 wins, 4 losses and 0 draws, 8 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 2 by submission.

Santiago Ponzinibbio made his way to the cage with a record of 27 wins, 4 losses and 0 draws, 15 of those wins coming by knock out and 6 by submission.

Santiago Ponzinibbio marked his 18th fight for them, having made his own debut for the promotion in 2013.

Geoff Neal's UFC record stood at 7-4-0, while Santiago Ponzinibbio's came in at 11-7-0.

The stats suggested Neal had a slight advantage in power over Ponzinibbio, with a 62% knock out percentage over Ponzinibbio's 56%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Ponzinibbio had a slight advantage over Neal, with a 22% submission rate over Neal's 15%.

Geoff Neal was the younger man by 4 years, at 33 years old.

Ponzinibbio had a height advantage of 1 inch over Neal. Despite this, he had a 2-inch reach advantage.

Neal was the less experienced professional fighter, having had 14 fewer fights, and made his debut in 2012, 4 years and 1 month later than Ponzinibbio, whose first professional fight was in 2008. He had fought 24 less professional rounds, 49 to Ponzinibbio's 73.

Neal vs Ponzinibbio form

Neal had beaten 2 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going to the judges once.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had lost to Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 285 on 4th March 2023 by submission in the 3rd round at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, United States.

Previous to that, he had won against Vicente Luque at UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Hill on 6th August 2022 by knockout in the 3rd round at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Going into that contest, he had beaten Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC 269 on 11th December 2021 by split decision in their 3 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Before that, he had been beaten by Neil Magny at UFC Vegas 26 on 8th May 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

He had been defeated by Stephen Thompson at UFC Vegas 17 on 19th December 2020 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Ponzinibbio had beaten 3 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going the distance twice.

In his last fight before this contest, he had lost to Geoff Neal at UFC 269 on 11th December 2021 by split decision in their 3 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas, United States.

Previous to that, he had defeated Miguel Baeza at UFC Vegas 28 on 5th June 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest.

Going into that contest, he had been beaten by Jingliang Li at UFC on ABC 1 on 16th January 2021 by knockout in the 1st round at Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Before that, he was victorious against Neil Magny at UFC Fight Night 140 on 17th November 2018 by knockout in the 4th round at Luna Park, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

He had won against Mike Perry at UFC on FOX 26 on 16th December 2017 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at MTS Centre, Winnipeg, Canada.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Geoff Neal had been fighting more than Santiago Ponzinibbio.

Going to this contest, Geoff Neal had last fought 1 year, 4 months and 20 days ago, while Santiago Ponzinibbio's last outing had been 2 years, 7 months and 13 days ago.

Neal's last 5 fights had come over a period of 3 years, 7 months and 5 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 8 months and 19 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 17 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3.4 rounds on average.

Ponzinibbio's last 5 fights had come over a period of 6 years, 7 months and 8 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 3 months and 27 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 14 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.8 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Neal vs Ponzinibbio?

Sorry, we couldn’t find any historical odds for Neal vs Ponzinibbio.