Preview: UFC Vegas 101 ‘Dern vs. Ribas 2’

Welterweights

Santiago Ponzinibbio (29-8, 11-7 UFC) vs. Carlston Harris (19-6, 4-2 UFC)

ODDS: Ponzinibbio (-118), Harris (-102)

Ponzinibbio has enjoyed a productive UFC career, but it’s hard not to think of what could have been for the Argentinian. Ponzinibbio was solid if unspectacular in his first few trips to the Octagon before rattling off seven straight wins, capped off by a dominant main event victory in Buenos Aires against Neil Magny at the end of 2018. At that point, it seemed like the sky was the limit for Ponzinibbio as an exciting striker clicking on all cylinders who could also break the UFC into a new market. Instead, that wound up being the high-water mark of his career. Ponzinibbio would wind up suffering a staph infection that threatened his career, and while he has recovered well given those circumstances, it does seem to have sapped a lot out of him as a fighter. There are still flashes of Ponzinibbio’s ability to build over the course of his fights and gut things out in a war, but he’s now eating a ton of offense while not being able to make up the difference, even if Jingliang Li and Kevin Holland have been the only two fighters capable of knocking him out outright. Ponzinibbio looks to get back into the win column against Harris, who has settled in as a dangerous veteran test since coming to the UFC in 2021.

The UFC’s first fighter out of Guyana, Harris already had about a decade of experience prior to his UFC debut, over which time he has developed a messy but effective approach. Harris isn’t technically the prettiest fighter, but his long frame allows him to hit hard with some awkward strikes to go along with the threat of his wrestling and grappling, which are similarly effective in spite of themselves. Harris is capable of getting knocked out, but it has normally taken opponents with one-shot power to get it done. If both men are going to wind up engaging in a war of attrition, it does seem at this point like Ponzinibbio is going to be the first to crack. The pick is Harris via second-round submission.

Jump To »
Dern vs. Ribas
Ponzinibbio vs. Harris
Almeida vs. Alhassan
Kopylov vs. Curtis
Bashi vs. Rodriguez
Medic vs. Soriano
The Prelims