“For me, this is the miracle I was looking for,” he said of jumping right back into the fray against a talented foe like Baeza, who has earned a trio of second-round finishes in as many appearances to begin his UFC career.
“My focus is on this fight, but after this, hopefully I can come back soon. I feel I lost too much time and that’s frustrating, but I cannot do anything about the past; I can only do today and for my future, and I want to fight, and show the world who I am.
“I know my levels, and nothing has changed,” added the confident Argentinian. “I know I can beat anyone in the division; I know I can beat the champion today. I need to take advantage of this opportunity to fight and I need to put together a good effort in the fight.
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“With a good victory, everything will come.”
That includes the personal satisfaction of knowing that the years of sacrifice and battling through this latest round of obstacles was all worth it.
“This is going to prove to me that I am right to continue forward,” began Ponzinibbio. “So many times in my life, things happened that made me think, ‘Why not stop? Why not do other things?’ but I know inside of myself that I am going to be champion of the world one day. When I win this fight, I’m going to say, for me, inside, ‘You see? You’re going to be world champion, man; relax.’”
