Gabriel Bonfim emerged as a professional title contender at 170 kilos.
On Saturday, Bonfim confronted the most important take a look at of his MMA profession when he confronted former welterweight champion Belal Muhammad in the principle occasion of UFC Vegas 118. Bongfim handed with flying colours, defeating “Keep in mind the Identify” for 25 minutes, and was thrust into the thick of the welterweight title combat.
Heading into the combat, Bonfim was on a four-fight win streak, however no opponent had confronted a real welterweight elite, and regardless of coming off a two-fight shedding streak, Muhammad actually nonetheless matches that description. Nonetheless, Bongfim overcame the scenario and placed on the very best efficiency of his profession, tossing Muhammad at his mercy with crisp boxing and sharp low kicks.
As was the case with Muhammad in current bouts, he was unable to provide his trademark wrestling match early on, and by the point Muhammad landed his first takedown within the third spherical, Bongfim was already far forward and simply stuffed it. From there, Bonfim continued to drag Muhammad away, with the previous champion utterly abandoning the talent set that after received him the title, as a substitute participating in kickboxing battles with bigger, youthful opponents.
It did not work out in the long run, and by the top of 25 minutes, Muhammad had misplaced each spherical, leaving him in a bloody mess. The scorecard was normal: Bonfim had 50 wins and 45 losses throughout the board.
Muhammad entered the combat ranked No. 5 within the UFC welterweight rankings, however Bonfim will doubtless take over that spot when the promotion updates its rankings on Tuesday. After the win, Bonfim gave Muhammad a lot of love, inviting him for a post-match interview and giving him the instruments to take the lengthy highway to turning into champion. He known as up one other former welterweight champion, Jacques Della Maddalena, for his subsequent combat.
“Jacques Maddalena, please be prepared,” Bonfim stated by way of a Portuguese interpreter. “You are there. You are subsequent. You are simply within the high 5 and also you wish to do nicely. You are subsequent.”
Muhammad, alternatively, has misplaced three consecutive fights since successful the UFC welterweight title in July 2024, and his profession is in freefall.
