For the first time, the UFC held an event in Argentina with a UFC Fight Night card headlined by the promotion’s top Argentinian fighter Santiago Ponzinibbio and American Neil Magny.

It seemed like from the fights opening moments that Magny was in survival mode.

Over the course of four rounds, Ponzinibbio landed damaging strikes against Magny and left his left leg battered to the point where he could barely stand on it.

After landing on the resilient Magny throughout the fight, Ponzinibbio finally was able to land an overhand right on the chin of Magny that dropped him and ended the fight midway through the fourth round.

Despite the main event starting at 2:30 am local time, the crowd loudly cheered on their countryman throughout.

Following the win, Ponzinibbio called for a welterweight title shot against fellow American Top Team member, welterweight champion Tyron Woodley.

 

Calvillo triumphant in return

Coming off of a nine month suspension after a positive in-competition test for marijuana metabolites following UFC 219, Cynthia Calvillo did not lose a step.

Despite a very tough weight cut that resulted in her missing weight by two pounds, Calvillo looked as good as ever, scoring a first round submission finish against Poliana Botelho.

Calvillo competed five times in 2017 and due to the suspension, she will likely only be able to compete once this year. Calvillo had a lot of momentum in 2017 before a loss to Carla Esparza.

Following the win, Calvillo said that she hoped to get a fight lined up against Michelle Waterson, who she was likely to face before her positive test and suspension.

 

Attendance and bonuses

UFC Fight Night at Estadio Mary Teran de Weiss in Buenos Aires, Argentina drew 10,245 attendees with an undisclosed gate.

Laureano Staropoli and Hector Aldana earned Fight of the Night honours for their back and forth three round fight, while Ponzinibbio and Johnny Walker earned Performance of the Night bonuses for their respective knockouts over Magny and Khalil Rountree. All four fighters earn an additional $50,000 (USD).

 

Nick Diaz to potentially return and face Masvidal

It has been nearly four years since Nick Diaz last competed in the octagon and over seven years since his last win, but according to a report from ESPN’S Brett Okamoto, his return may be imminent.

UFC President Dana White told Okamoto that Diaz had agreed to a March 2 fight against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 235. Masvidal last fought in November of 2017 when he lost a unanimous decision to Stephen Thompson.

Diaz is the older brother of Nate Diaz, who was scheduled to compete at UFC 230, but his opponent Dustin Poirier withdrew due to injury.

 

UFC close to signing Gracie

It has been awhile since a Gracie last competed in the UFC, but that may no longer be the case soon.

According to Brett Okamoto of ESPN, the UFC are nearing a deal to sign 4-0 Kron Gracie, the son of the legendary Rickson Gracie.

The UFC are looking to book him compete at UFC 233 in Anaheim this January against an opponent to be named later per Okamoto.

 

UFC seeking replacement opponent for Moicano

UFC 231 was dealt a serious blow this week as Mirsad Bektic was forced to withdraw from his matchup against Renato Moicano.

It has been widely speculated that Moicano is expected to be the backup plan for the main event featherweight championship matchup should anything happen that would prevent either the champion Max Holloway or challenger Brian Ortega from competing.

The event takes place on December 8 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

The UFC is seeking a replacement for the Brazilian Moicano, who's only professional loss is to Ortega, who submitted Moicano in a fight where Moicano had likely won the first two rounds.

Since then, Moicano has scored back to back wins over Calvin Kattar and Cub Swanson.