Santiago Ponzinibbio was scheduled to meet Kamaru Usman in the main event of UFC Fight Night Chile, but the fighter suffered a hand injury and was pulled from the card.
The hand injury has become so severe that Ponzinibbio will have to undergo surgery to repair the damage.
”The hand injury happened in sparring,” Ponzinibbio told MMA Fighting. “I kept training because I wanted to fight, but it was getting worse. The doctor looked at it and said, ‘Santiago, you can’t fight. It would be better if you had surgery now to fix it right away.’”
Ponzinibbio met with his doctors this past Friday to plan when the surgery is going to happen, but the fighter has yet to reveal that date.
Despite the hand injury, one promise Ponzinibbio is making is that he’ll come back stronger after the surgery.
”I really wanted to fight,” Ponzinibbio said. “I knew I would headline this card a long time ago and was anxious and excited for it. It sucks, but it’s part of the job. I was very upset, but I will come back stronger.”
There is no date yet on when Ponzinibbio can return to action, but more should be known once the surgery is completed.
