The main card of UFC Des Moines, which took place on May 3 at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, saw a welterweight scrap between Santiago Ponzinibbio and Daniel Rodriguez.
Ponzinibbio knocked out Carlton Harris in his last UFC outing. On the other hand, Rodriguez scored a split decision victory against Alex Morono before UFC Fight Night Des Moines.
UFC Des Moines: Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Daniel Rodriguez Recap and Highlights
Round 1
Rodriguez landed a jab to start the fight. Both fighters landed leg kicks on each other. “D-Rod” started attacking his opponent’s body with the jab. Ponzinibbio connected with a heavy body kick and followed it up with a kick to Rodriguez’s leg.
Buenos intercambios hasta ahora entre los dos 👊 #UFCDesMoines pic.twitter.com/GTg1H0p2Rz
— UFC Español (@UFCEspanol) May 4, 2025
“Argentine Dagger” tried to grapple multiple times, but Rodriguez warded off his attempts. “D-Rod” landed a left hook that seemingly hurt Ponzinibbio.
Rodriguez está conectando y avanzando 😯 #UFCDesMoines pic.twitter.com/zZTFJzBbeK
— UFC Español (@UFCEspanol) May 4, 2025
Round 2
Rodriguez opened the second round with a leg kick. The California native continued to land heavy shots on Ponzinibbio. “Argentine Dagger” attempted several takedowns but found no success. Ponzinibbio started to find his rhythm later in the round and landed several blows of his own.
In the final 30 seconds of the round, Ponzinibbio finally managed to score a takedown and took the top position.
Intercambio al final del primer asalto 💥 #UFCDesMoines pic.twitter.com/To689r2tXc
— UFC Español (@UFCEspanol) May 4, 2025
Round 3
At the beginning of the round, the two fighters continued to trade punches. Rodriguez landed a combination of punches that knocked his opponent down. As he attempted to follow up and throw strikes, the referee intervened and stopped the bout.
D ROD GETS THE FINISH #UFCDesMoines pic.twitter.com/ZVzOunUNgX
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) May 4, 2025
UFC Des Moines: Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Daniel Rodriguez Result
The fight ended with a TKO victory for Rodriguez in the third round. With the victory, “D-Rod” is now on a two-fight winning streak. Ponzinibbio, on the other hand, has now lost three out of his last four UFC bouts.
In his post-fight Octagon interview with Michael Bisping, Rodriguez called out Jake Matthews for a showdown.
“It feels great to finally get a finish. It has been a while,” said Rodriguez. “I’ve been on a roller-coaster for the past six fights.”
“Shout out to Santiago Ponzinibbio. I came out here prepared. I knew it was going to be a war. He’s a lot tougher than I thought he was going to be. But we stuck to the game plan and those last punches — we just wanted to add three, four, five, six punches and sure enough it paid off.”
After calling out Matthews, Rodriguez revealed that he had written and rapped the song he walked out to and plans to pursue a music career in the future.
Walks out to his own to his own song that he rapped on, KO’d his opponent and proceeds to throw it up as he exits the cage. Daniel Rodriguez is West Coast at its finest 🔥😂 #UFCDesMoines pic.twitter.com/oO8sb4Y5ZS
— FULL SEND MMA (@full_send_mma) May 4, 2025