UFC welterweight Neil Magny took quite a beating from Santiago Ponzinibbio on Saturday night in Argentina. The TUF 16 alum dealt with vision problems from a stiff jab to the right eye in the early rounds, a battered left leg from thudding kicks, all of which punctuated with a right hand to the jaw that sent him face-planted onto the canvas at the 2:36 mark of round four.
Through those beatings he took, Magny says he never considered throwing in the towel in the middle of those rounds, adding he would have been let down if his cornermen did.
“Live by the sword, die by the sword,” Magny said during the post-fight presser (via MMA Fighting). “I’m in there, I know to protect myself at all times. If I’m still in there, I’m still fighting. That choice is up to me or the referee, in case I’m not in the position to fight back or protect myself.
“But I think I would’ve been more disappointed in myself if I would’ve quit or if my coaches would’ve called it early. I’d rather fight tooth and nail until the last possible second and give it all I’ve got.”
As for his post-fight assessment of his opponent, Magny was most impressed by the power that Ponzinibbio packed in his punches.
“The biggest thing was his own jab,” Magny said. “The placing of his jab was perfect. He landed it right on the eye, made it pretty difficult to see, and then he did a great job of timing my own jab and throwing that leg kick. I think the majority of the jabs I threw, he was able to counter with the leg kicks, so that was one of the main things that shut down my jab, my offense, and kinda forced me to retreat a little bit.”
The loss on Saturday snapped Magny’s two-fight win-streak, as he now holds a record of 21-7, with ten wins by stoppage.
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