Two rising welterweights will collide in Winnipeg, Canada, and Santiago Ponzinibbio wants to make sure he continues to climb the rankings.

Coming off a 82-second knockout win over Gunnar Nelson, Ponzinibbio takes on Mike Perry at UFC on FOX 26 on Dec. 16. Months after taking on a respectful opponent in “Gunni”, the Argentinian is not bothered by the trash talk that Perry will likely throw at him.

"It’s a good fight. It’s a good fight,” Ponzinibbio told MMA Fighting. "I think he’s very popular now, he likes to talk a lot and promote himself, so this is going to be a good fight.

"I always enter my fights the same way, I always go there to knock people out. I go there to put my hands on them. I’m an aggressive fighter, that’s my style. I don’t care about him. If he wants to promote the fight, do what you want, whatever. I don’t care. I knock out whoever stands in front of me. If he doesn’t go down, I will hurt him."

Perry is coming off back-to-back knockouts over Jake Ellenberger and Alex Reyes, who stepped up on short notice to replace Ponzinibbio’s teammate Thiago Alves in Pittsburgh in September.

Ponzinibbio, who has won five in a row and seven of his last eight, didn’t have Perry in mind as a potential opponent. In fact, he says he never watched even one of "Platinum's" five UFC bouts.

"I wanted to fight (Carlos) Condit, (Rafael) dos Anjos, but unfortunately it didn’t happen,” Ponzinibbio said. "I have to stay active. I want to stay in rhythm. Perry is on a roll and promotes his fights well, and I think this will be great.

"Honestly, I never watched even one of his fights. I have to watch it now. I wasn’t eyeing this fight, to be honest with you. I was thinking about Condit, dos Anjos, (Donald) Cerrone. They were my options, but it didn’t happen. But this fight is good. I’ll study his fights and see what he brings, and based on that I will prepare my strategy and train for that."

If Ponzinibbio manages to get through Perry in Winnipeg — especially if he’s correct in his knockout prediction — the Argentinian hopes to earn a shot at UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley next.

"I have what it takes to fight for the belt already, I have the potential to become champion, but it’s up to the UFC to give me the chance,” he said. "I know I have the potential to fight the champion. I beat the No. 8 welterweight in 82 seconds. I’ve fought great opponents, so I deserve it. It’s UFC’s call. I’m here."