Ponzinibbio vs Rodriguez

Who won Ponzinibbio vs Rodriguez?

Daniel Rodriguez beat Santiago Ponzinibbio by knockout in the 3rd round during the main card of UFC Fight Night, on Saturday 3rd May 2025 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Welterweight division, which meant the weight limit was 170 pounds (12.1 stone or 77.1 KG).

Ponzinibbio vs Rodriguez stats

Santiago Ponzinibbio stepped into the octagon with a record of 30 wins, 8 losses and 0 draws, 17 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 6 by submission.

Daniel Rodriguez made his way to the cage with a record of 18 wins, 5 losses and 0 draws, 8 of those wins coming by knock out and 4 by submission.

This was Santiago Ponzinibbio's 20th fight in the UFC, having made his debut for the promotion in 2013. Daniel Rodriguez marked his 13th fight for them, having made his own debut for the promotion in 2020.

Santiago Ponzinibbio's UFC record stood at 12-8-0, while Daniel Rodriguez's came in at 9-4-0.

The stats suggested Ponzinibbio had an advantage in power over Rodriguez, with a 57% knock out percentage over Rodriguez's 44%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Rodriguez had a slight advantage over Ponzinibbio, with a 22% submission rate over Ponzinibbio's 20%.

Santiago Ponzinibbio was the same age as Daniel Rodriguez, at 38 years old.

Rodriguez had a height advantage of 1 inch over Ponzinibbio. That also extended to a 1-inch reach advantage.

Ponzinibbio was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 15 more fights, and made his debut in 2008, 6 years and 10 months earlier than Rodriguez, whose first professional fight was in 2015. He had fought 24 more professional rounds, 79 to Rodriguez's 55.

Ponzinibbio vs Rodriguez form

Santiago Ponzinibbio had stopped 2 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had won against Carlston Harris at UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Ribas 2 on 11th January 2025 by knockout in the 3rd round at UFC Apex, Las Vegas, United States.

Previous to that, he had lost to Muslim Salikhov at UFC Fight Night: Namajunas vs. Cortez on 13th July 2024 by split decision in their 3 round contest at Ball Arena, Denver.

Going into that contest, he had been beaten by Kevin Holland at UFC 287 on 8th April 2023 by knockout in the 3rd round at Miami-Dade Arena, Miami.

Before that, he had beaten Alex Morono at UFC 282 on 10th December 2022 by knockout in the 3rd round at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.

He had been defeated by Michel Pereira at UFC Fight Night: Holm vs. Vieira on 21st May 2022 by split decision in their 3 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Daniel Rodriguez had beaten 2 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight before this contest, he had defeated Alex Morono at UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. Taira on 12th October 2024 by split decision in their 3 round contest at UFC Apex, Las Vegas, United States.

Previous to that, he had lost to Kelvin Gastelum at UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Aliskerov on 22nd June 2024 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Going into that contest, he had been beaten by Ian Machado Garry at UFC Fight Night – Rozenstruik vs. Almeida on 13th May 2023 by knockout in the 1st round at Spectrum Center, Charlotte, United States.

Before that, he had been defeated by Neil Magny at UFC Fight Night: Mitchell vs. Evloev on 5th November 2022 by submission in the 3rd round at UFC Apex, Las Vegas.

He was victorious against Jingliang Li at UFC 279 on 10th September 2022 by split decision in their 3 round contest at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.

Activity check

In of activity leading into the fight, Daniel Rodriguez had been fighting more than Santiago Ponzinibbio.

Going to this contest, Santiago Ponzinibbio had last fought 4 months and 28 days ago, while Daniel Rodriguez's last outing had been 7 months and 27 days ago.

Ponzinibbio's last 5 fights had come over a period of 3 years and 18 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 7 months and 10 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 15 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3 rounds on average.

Rodriguez's last 5 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 8 months and 29 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 6 months and 19 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 13 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.6 rounds on average.

What time did Ponzinibbio vs Rodriguez start?

The fighters were expected to walk out at around 3:40 AM UTC , which was 11:40 PM EST or 8:40 PM PST on the West Coast of America, or 4:40 AM BST in the UK.

What were the odds on Ponzinibbio vs Rodriguez?

Santiago Ponzinibbio was a 4/6 (-150) favourite going into the contest, while Daniel Rodriguez made his way into the ring at 11/10 (+110) with oddsmakers.