Gabriel Bonfim left the Bridgestone Arena arena in Nashville with a win over former UFC title contender Stephen Thompson, and he’s happy with his performance despite the backslash stemming from the judges’ call.
Several MMA fighters called his split-decision win “trash”. Bonfim, however, said he has already rewatched the match more than a dozen times and feels confident he’s done enough to win two of the three rounds.
“I won the first and third rounds, clean,” Bonfim told MMA Fighting. “Who understands MMA, if you watch the fight again, you’ll see I won the first and third rounds. Easy.”
“I had a great performance,” he continued. “That’s what we expected it would go. We always want a knockout, a quick submission, but instead we had a three-round war. We had some unexpected [things] in the second, but it’s a fight. We managed to get back and impose our game. It’s hard to hit him, he’s very fast and dangerous, and you can’t make mistakes or he gets you.”
Bonfim said he was confident that his hands would be raised as soon as the match ended, barring some home cooking from the judges in Tennessee.
“I was sure I had won the fight,” Bonfim said. “I won the first round and was winning the second, but he landed that head kick and stole the round. But the third round, I dominated it most of the time, put him on his ass three times, you know? He landed two strikes, I landed two, so it was pretty clear who won. But I was in the United States, his home, so something could happen. I was a bit scared, but I was sure of the win.”
Now ranked in the top 15 of the welterweight division after winning three in a row in the UFC over Ange Loosa, Khaos Williams and now “Wonderboy”, Bonfim has a target in mind for his next octagon appearance: Colby Covington.
The former interim champion hasn’t fought since December 2024, when Joaquin Buckley stopped him in the fourth round. “Chaos” hasn’t won a bout in more than three years now, beating Jorge Masvidal in the first quarter of 2022, and the Brazilian said “I would be happy to beat him.”
“I don’t think there’s anyone else for him to fight,” said Bonfim, suggesting it for the upcoming UFC Fight Night show in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Oct. 11 — but doubting he would be down for it. “Everybody is currently booked in the division, so I think I’m the only one left. We can make it happen. I don’t think he would come to Brazil. He’s not dumb [laughs]. He’d never do it.”
“I would defend his takedowns, this little wrestling, and beat him a lot on the feet, for sure,” he added. “If it’s three or five rounds, I’d beat him up a lot and definitely submit or knock him out.”
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