Santiago Ponzinibbio willing to fight Rafael dos Anjos on a week's notice at UFC Vegas 14

Following the withdrawal of AKA prospect Islam Makhachev, multiple Lightweight fighters have vouched to step in for a fight against Rafael dos Anjos. The former UFC Lightweight Champion himself has called out Michael Chandler. However, the latter has refused to step in on a week's notice.

Rafael dos Anjos has told Brett Okamoto that he is willing to fight at Catchweight or Welterweight for this weekend:

Dos Anjos, a former champ at 155, is moving down from 170 pounds for the first time since 2016. He told me his weight is already low, lower than 170 pounds, but if there are no lightweight options, he'd at least consider a catchweight or welterweight fight.

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) November 9, 2020

Speaking to ESPN's Brett Okamoto recently, RDA claimed that he is still hoping to fight this weekend at UFC Vegas 14, even at Catchweight or Welterweight. And according to Ali Abdelaziz, Welterweight's forgotten star Santiago Ponzinibbio has offered his services to step in against Rafael dos Anjos.

Taking to Twitter, Brett Okamoto claimed that as per Ali, Ponzinibbio, who is already scheduled to fight in January, is one of the Welterweights who is willing to throw down with the former Lightweight Champion.

Here is what Okamoto wrote on Twitter:

Santiago Ponzinibbio (@SPonzinibbioMMA) is one welterweight who has offered to fight Rafael dos Anjos on short notice, according to his manager Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00). Ponzinibbio is currently scheduled to fight in January.

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) November 9, 2020

After the initial cancelation of the fight between Rafael dos Anjos and Islam Makhachev from the UFC 254 card, the Lightweight pair were set to collide in the main event this weekend at the UFC Apex.

The highly-awaited fight, especially for Islam after the recent retirement of Khabib Nurmagomedov, was called off due to the AKA prospect eventually revealing that he had suffered a staph infection.

What could be in store for Rafael dos Anjos next?

While Rafael dos Anjos awaits a new opponent, the status of this weekend's UFC Vegas 14 main event is still up in the air. A fight between Santiago Ponzinibbio and Rafael dos Anjos is definitely going to be fireworks. It would also mark the Argentine's return to the Octagon for the first time since his win over Neil Magny in 2018.

That being said, Ponzinibbio is currently scheduled to fight Muslim Salikhov in January 2021. However, the former's Octagon return could instead take place quite earlier, as soon as this weekend in fact.