Kamaru Usman claims Santiago Ponzinibbio turned down UFC Chile fight with him

Yesterday evening, our own insider extraordinaire Chris Taylor reported that the UFC’s upcoming debut in Chile will feature a welterweight showdown between ranked contenders Santiago Ponzinibbio and Neil Magny. Apparently, however, the card nearly got a welterweight showdown between Ponzinibbio and Kamaru Usman instead. At least, that’s what Usman is claiming.

In a Thursday evening Twitter post, Usman divulged that he’d been offered a fight with Ponzinibbio, and that he had accepted this offer. He then claimed that Ponzinibbio turned down the fight.

https://twitter.com/USMAN84kg/status/977028086733639680

“FML, just got the news,” Usman said in his Tweet. “I was offered Santiago in Chile. I accepted and he turned it down smh. Next time I put on a ‘big drama show’ so maybe these guys can actually feel like they have a chance for the W.’

When we last saw Kamaru Usman in action, he authored a dominant decision win over the dangerous Emil Meek. In his next most recent fight, he delivered a vicious KO at the expense of Sergio Moraes. Usman is now a flawless 7-0 in the UFC, and 12-1 in sum.

Santiago Ponzinibbio, meanwhile, last competed in December, when he snagged a hard-fought decision win from “Platinum” Mike Perry. This win was preceded by a knockout of Gunnar Nelson. Ponzinibbio is on a 5-fight streak, and currently owns a 26-3 overall record.

The UFC’s debut in Chile will also feature an interesting light heavyweight battle between former champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, and recent title challenger Volkan Oezdemir. The card goes down on May 19.

Would you rather have seen Santiago Ponzinibbio matched up with Neil Magny or Kamaru Usman?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 3/23/2018.