Santiago Ponzinibbio became the first man to hand Icelander Gunnar Nelson a knockout defeat in mixed martial arts (MMA) when they met at UFC Fight Night 113 in Glasgow last night, reports mbl.is. Gunnar stated afterwards that his Argentine opponent had poked him in the eye during the fight, which lasted for just over a minute before it was stopped, and this had affected his performance.
“I was doing really well at the beginning and I got a good upper cut in and afterwards he poked me in the eye. I should have told the referee because I was seeing double for the rest of the fight. He hit me with a punch that I did not see coming and my eye is still swollen. Maybe I would have seen the punch, if he had not poked me in the eye,” asserted Gunnar after the fight.
For his part, Ponzinibbio stated: “I practiced a long time for this fight and I was sure I would win. I have great respect for Gunnar and I was sure he was ready for war. I did not expect to finish the fight in a minute.”
The Glasgow arena was packed with 10,589 people who had come to watch the match-up. Ponzinibbio ended up receiving an award for best performance of the evening.
