UFC 282 results: Santiago Ponzinibbio rallies to floor Alex Morono with late TKO

Santiago Ponzinibbio staged a late rally for a TKO of Alex Morono in the UFC 282 featured bout.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Alex Morono[/autotag] looked like he was on his way to getting one of the biggest wins of his career on five days’ notice at UFC 282, but [autotag]Santiago Ponzinibbio[/autotag] had other plans.

Down two round to none on the scorecards, Ponzinibbio (29-6 MMA, 11-5 UFC) let his hands fly in the final round and landed a flurry to put away Morono (22-8 MMA, 11-5 UFC) by TKO in the 180-pound catchweight fight at T-Mobile Arena.

As expected, Ponzinibbio and Moreno went toe to toe to start the round. It was somewhat slow-paced and elicited some boos from the crowd, but Morono had the biggest moment when he landed a shot that forced an off-balance Ponzinibbio to the ground shortly before the horn.

It was more of the same in the second frame. Morono seemed to have more power in his shots and found a home for some good ones. Ponzinibbio threw combinations, but Morono absorbed them well in another ho-hum round that the crowd in attendance did not enjoy.

A lackluster third round was turned on its head late when Ponzinibbio landed a huge right hand that rocked and dropped Morono. He pounced with a few follow-up shots, and it was waved off at the 2:29 mark of Round 3.

“I don’t care who, I don’t care what weight, I’m going to fight,” Ponzinibbio said in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. “I will throw everything. I know I’m a real fighter. I have a killer instinct.”

Up-to-the-minute UFC 282 results include:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 282.

[vertical-gallery id=2604468]