Athletes
Gabriel Bonfim: Brazilian Finishing Machine Is Ready To Bounce Back
Brazilian Submission Ace Returns To Action In Denver As He Looks To Rebound From His First Career Defeat
Gabriel Bonfim was on the crest of a wave. He’d captured the LFA welterweight title, earned himself a shot on Dana White’s Contender Series, then punched his ticket to the big stage with a first-round Von Flue choke finish. Then, in his first two UFC appearances, he added two more first-round submissions to his record.
But last November, that momentum hit the buffers when he was stopped by former Cage Warriors champion and seasoned UFC veteran Nicolas Dalby. It was the first loss of Bonfim’s MMA career, and one that he will look to rebound from when he returns to action at UFC Fight Night: Namajunas vs. Cortez this weekend in Denver, Colorado.
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Chatting with UFC.com ahead of his matchup with Ange Loosa, Bonfim explained how he went through the process of getting over his first career loss, and the changes he has made to better equip him for the challenges that lie ahead.
“(It was) a new experience coming off of a loss,” he admitted.
“We are working extra hard in our training. We’ve got a new team assembled for this, and we're doing everything possible so we come out of this one with a victory.”
With regard to the loss itself, Bonfim is taking the disappointment head-on, and has fully accepted the outcome, and his need to improve in order to avoid similar results in the future.
“It’s something that has never happened in my life, but we’re just taking it,” he explained.
“You own it and take the opportunity as a learning experience. To go out there, work more, come back, do it differently, and get a different result. So, whatever happens, just take it, own it, and take it as a learning experience to move forward.”
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Bonfim has been blessed to have a strong inner circle who have rallied around him and helped him as he looks to put his lone career setback firmly in the rearview mirror.
“Thank God I actually have very good people in my life that surround me and help me out,” he said.
“So you’re talking about my brother, you’re talking about my coach and master, Renato Ferreira. Also, my brother Ismael.
“They rallied around me and helped support me – also, my family. Actually it was a very important moment because a lot of people, even with the loss, they came and gave me a hug and came and gave me a hug.
“Those are the moments that you see the true people, the ones that stick around. So I’ve got very good people in my life, and I surrounded myself with them to move forward.”
That inner circle also provided him with the changes he needed for his fight preparation, with Bonfim teaming up with his older brother, UFC lightweight Ismael Bonfim, to form their own fight camp, “Bonfim Brothers.” Gabriel explained how his new setup has given him a new sense of contentment as he prepares to face Loosa this weekend.
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“We decided to join forces and assemble Bonfim Brothers, which is our team. We dove head-first. We went all-in, as we like to say at home,” he said.
“I was very happy, as well. I think it was a weight that was lifted off our back. I felt lighter and, I have to tell you, I trained really hard and I trained very light on my feet. I trained happy throughout it. So, with Bonfim Brothers now, this was a great experience.”
Bonfim faces Loosa at the Ball Arena in Denver on Saturday night in a battle between two welterweights with contrasting approaches. Loosa’s preferred method of victory so far has been via TKO or KO, but he has almost as many decision victories as he does finishes.
By contrast, Bonfim is a pure finishing machine. The Brazilian’s grappling superiority has seen him claim 12 of his 15 career victories by submission, while his other three wins also came inside the distance via TKO.
Bonfim said that his ability to finish fights is a “mirror” of his training sessions ahead of fight night, where he and his teammates push each other hard in their grappling exchanges to ensure Bonfim’s skills are razor-sharp come fight night.
“With my training friends – because we’re friends – we go really hard. We go out to ‘get’ people,” he said.
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“If I see the opportunity, I go for the finish.”
Bonfim also said that he’s ready to take the bout all the way to the judges’ scorecards, if needed, but he was happy to reveal his pre-fight confidence ahead of a matchup against an opponent he thinks he has a clear advantage over.
“I think he's versatile, I think he’s got the striking and also an element of grappling. But I don't think he's complete in either,” he stated.
“I think he's not 100 percent. He’s more like 50 percent on both. And he has to be very prepared, because I don't think he poses that much of a challenge to me, because I've trained really hard. I’ve prepared myself a lot and he's going to face someone who's really prepared. I trained for three rounds.
“I’m prepared to fight three rounds, and prepared to fight more. During the fight, many opportunities show up and come up that you’re able to finish a fight. But I’m prepared for all three rounds, or five rounds, if needed. I’m really prepared for this fight.”
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Victory for Bonfim will see him return to the momentum he carried into his first three fights in the UFC. And, for those fans and supporters wondering what they can expect from Bonfim in Denver, he had a simple message.
“They can be sure that I prepared a lot for this fight, trained really hard for it, and on Saturday, I'm going to win. I'm gonna come out victorious with my hand raised.”
UFC Fight Night: Namajunas vs Cortez took place live from Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on July 13, 2024. See the Final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
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