Santiago Ponzinibbio recovering after emergency surgery for bacterial infection

UFC welterweight Santiago Ponzinibbio is out of the hospital after a one-week stay because of a bacterial infection in his blood.

Ponzinibbio, 32, said he’ll soon see a specialist to continue treatment, but as of right now he doesn’t have a timeline for a return to the octagon.

“I’m in the process of recovery,” Ponzinibbio told MMA Junkie after posting a video of his groggy wakeup from emergency surgery.

Hello friends, I have been absent from social media recently because I had emergency surgery and had to spend a week in the hospital but I’m in recovery mode. I’ll leave this funny video of when I woke up from anesthesia

It’s an unfortunate detour for the Argentinian fighter, who was waiting for his next bout when the illness struck. He’s won his past seven octagon bouts and is on the short list of future title contenders.

In March, Ponzinibbio targeted ex-lightweight champ Anthony Pettis, who at the time was fresh off a highlight-reel knockout of two-time title challenger Stephen Thompson.

Getting an opponent to sign on the dotted line remains one of Ponzinibbio’s biggest challenges.

“I’m looking for a good fight, a big name,” he previously told MMA Junkie. “The last three fights … three guys with a ranking. I think I deserve a fight with a top guy. There’s a lot of big names right now.”

After knocking out Derrick Krantz, surging welterweight Vicente Luque called to face Ponzinibbio when the UFC travels to Uruguay in August. But it looks like that will have to wait.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.