UFC Tonight: Fight By Fight Preview | UFC Fight Night: Bonfim vs Brown

Bonfim makes his third start of the year, looking to build off recent wins over Khaos Williams and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson while extending his winning streak to four. The Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) grad is 5-1 in the Octagon, 18-1 overall, and crept into the Top 15 on the heels of his win over Thompson in July.

“Rudeboy” has been knocking on the door of the rankings for a minute, with wins in eight of his last 10 and coming off a hellacious knockout win over Nicolas Dalby in April, where he became the first person to stop the Danish veteran. The 35-year-old is technical, fluid, and fixing to catapult himself into the Top 15 by taking out Bonfim.

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All the pieces of this fight make sense: it’s the right type of test for each individual at this moment, and them having five rounds to work lessens the chances of a debated split decision verdict leaving someone salty. They both have earned a moment in the spotlight,  and the winner could be looking at a date with someone in the middle third of the rankings in the first half of next year, so showcasing them here is a no-brainer and must-see TV.

Additional Main Card Matchups

Matt Schnell vs Joseph Morales

Mainstay Matt Schnell squares off with recent TUF winner Joseph Morales in an intriguing flyweight pairing on Saturday evening.

“Danger” decided to hang up his gloves last September following a loss to Cody Durden, which left him on a three-fight losing streak and having garnered just one win in six appearances. But the 35-year-old returned to action in April, scoring a unanimous decision victory over Jimmy Flick, and remains the kind of battle-tested, skilled veteran that every division needs standing between the hopefuls and the Top 15.

Morales looks to continue his comeback story after reclaiming a place on the roster with a second-round submission win over Alibi Idiris to win the flyweight tournament on Season 33 of The Ultimate Fighter. He’s now won four straight since initially parting ways with the promotion seven years ago, and profiles as the kind of experienced, skilled fighter that could very well make an expedited run up the rankings.

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Flyweight is in a great spot right now with plenty of depth and tons of talent, so even bouts like this between competitors stationed outside of the rankings carry some real weight. A spot in the Top 15 may not come for the victor, but a date with someone sporting a number next to their name might.

Muslim Salikhov vs Uros Medic

Muslim Salikhov and Uros Medic share the Octagon on Saturday in a welterweight battle that has a high probability of ending with someone wondering what happened.

Bonfim returns to action for the first time since his February encounter with Nazim Sadykhov went from bad to worse in a span of about a minute, as the Brazilian went from clearly being ahead to getting blasted with a punch that blew up his eye and ultimately ended the fight. Now 2-2 through his first four trips into the Octagon, the DWCS grad will look to maintain his “win one, lose one” pattern this weekend.

This is the third time that the Bonfim Brothers have competed on the same UFC card, with Gabriel having won each time and Ismael having gone 1-1 in those two starts. The good thing for the elder of the rostered siblings is that Gabriel fights later, so Ismael won’t be impacted by an unsatisfying result, and can look to set the tone for the family for the evening, though Padilla will certainly have something to say about that come Saturday.

Ricky Simon vs Raoni Barcelos

Veteran bantamweights Ricky Simon and Raoni Barcelos clash in this main card fixture.

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A three-fight slide (against currently ranked opposition) dropped Simon from the Top 15, but the Washington state man has since rebounded with back-to-back wins. He sent the partisan crowd in Seattle into hysterics with his knockout win over Javid Basharat in February, and followed that up with a mature, professional decision win over Cameron Smotherman in June.

A mainstay in the division for the last seven years, Barcelos goes in search of his third win this year and fourth straight victory on Friday night. After submitting Cristian Quinonez in his lone 2024 appearance, the 38-year-old Brazilian has opened his 2025 campaign with consecutive decision wins over rising star Payton Talbott and former champ Cody Garbrandt.

Yanez competes for the first time since last year’s final event, where he dropped a split decision to Daniel Marcos to fall to 1-3 over his last four fights following a blistering start to his UFC tenure. A member of the DWVS Class of ’21, Quinonez won his debut in devastating fashion, but has since fallen prey to a pair of skilled veterans and looks to halt a two-fight slide here.

Mayra Bueno Silva vs Jacqueline Cavalcanti

Mayra Bueno Silva and Jacqueline Cavalcanti face off in a fascinating matchup of talented bantamweights looking to take a big step forward in the wide-open weight class.

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Bueno Silva, who fought for the vacant title at UFC 297, looks for her first victory in four starts as she returns to the 135-pound ranks after a one-fight venture back to flyweight didn’t go as planned. Portugal’s Cavalcanti aims to build on her four-fight winning streak in the Octagon and push her overall run of success to eight with her biggest win to date on Saturday.

Josh Hokit vs Max Gimenis

Josh Hokit and Max Gimenis square off in a meeting of heavyweight newcomers on Saturday’s preliminary card.

A former collegiate wrestler and football player, Hokit earned his spot on the roster with a second-round stoppage win over Guilherme Uriel during this most recent season of Dana White’s Contender Series. A standout grappler, Gimenis has gone 6-1 as a mixed martial artist, with all but one of his victories coming by rapid first-round finish.

Tecia Pennington vs Denise Gomes

Ranked strawweights battle it out early in the card as Tecia Pennington and Denise Gomes share the Octagon at the UFC APEX.

Pennington has 2-1 since returning to action last year following the birth of her daughter, earning unanimous decision wins over Carla Esparza and Luana Pinheiro to reclaim her place in the Top 15. The 25-year-old Gomes enters on a three-fight winning streak, having gone 5-1 over her last six outings, including stoppage victories over Bruna Brasil, Yazmin Jauregui, and Elise Reed.

Miles Johns vs Daniel Marcos

Bantamweights Miles Johns and Daniel Marcos square off here after each had opponents fall out of their previously scheduled engagements.

Johns, who was ticketed to fight last weekend, looks to get things moving in the right direction again after suffering back-to-back decision losses against Felipe Lima and Jean Matsumoto. Marcos, who was supposed to face Lima later in the month, suffered the first loss of his career in May, landing on the wrong side of the cards in a clash with Montel Jackson in Des Moines, Iowa.

Jackson McVey vs Robert Valentin

Jackson McVey and Robert Valentin are the first two into the Octagon this weekend as the middleweight pair face off to see who will claim their first UFC victory.

McVey was penciled in to debut at UFC 317 but ended up getting pushed back a couple of weeks to UFC 318, where he suffered a first-round submission loss to Brunno Ferreira. Valentin advanced to the finals of TUF 32’s middleweight tournament, falling to Ryan Loder, and has since dropped consecutive appearances opposite Torrez Finney and Ateba Gautier.