Santiago Ponzinibbio has set his sights on Colby Covington, publicly calling for a UFC showdown in 2026.
Ponzinibbio has been preparing for a return to the octagon and wants Covington as his opponent, turning years of shared history at American Top Team into a potential grudge match. The two are former teammates who trained and sparred together frequently in Coconut Creek, Florida, where Ponzinibbio has spent 13 years.
"A fight I'd really like would be against Colby Covington," Ponzinibbio said, questioning Covington’s recent callouts. "He's a fighter who's always asking to fight my teammates, and now is talking aboutBo Nickal, who already has a fight at the White House. I don't understand why he's always asking for fights that he knows won't happen. We had the opportunity to train together at American Top Team. He knows that it won't be an easy fight for him, and maybe that's why he might not accept it, but I think it would be a great fight for me."
Ponzinibbio described their time on the mats together at ATT in detail. "We shared the same training, Mike Brown, and we had the same grappling classes with Mike, and I'd train with him, Masvidal – when they were close friends – and a big group of welterweights," he said, adding, "We used to have a lot of welterweights in the gym back in the day. We would train constantly. We'd spar. I know him very well. That's why I have my doubts he'd accept the fight. I beat him a lot in training."
