The Gabriel Bonfim showed his continued evolution as he claimed a shutout victory over Belal Muhammad to put himself into the upper echelon of the UFC welterweight division. But any talk of a title shot will have to wait for now.
Bonfim looked outstanding in his 50-45, 50-45, 50-45 win over the former undisputed champion at the Meta APEX on Saturday night as he showed that he’s significantly leveled up his game. However, despite his notable victory, “Marretinha” still has a way to go before he can challenge for the 170-pound title. The good news is he seems to know that, too.
Either Ian Machado Garry or Carlos Prates will get that first shot at Islam Makhachev, and Michael Morales isn’t too far behind either. And who knows? Maybe we’ll see Shavkat Rakhmonov return to the fray and become an instant contender, too.
It means that Bonfim’s job is far from done, and his callout of Jack Della Maddalena was spot-on. If he can beat “JDM”, he’ll be in position to fight for a title shot. The welterweight division has never looked so busy, and Bonfim’s arrival as another serious contender only makes it more exciting.
Zuffa Boxing just had its Griffin-Bonnar moment
After six Zuffa Boxing events at the Meta APEX, the organization went on the road for the first time and produced a thrilling event in Bournemouth, England.
The main event pitted England’s former cruiserweight world champion Chris Billam-Smith against heavy-handed knockout artist from Canada, Ryan Rozicki. It was a battle between the irresistible force and the immovable object at 200 pounds, and a hard-hitting scrap was expected. But my goodness. What we got surpassed all expectations.
Both men went into the trenches from the opening exchange and never stopped as they went back and forth in one of the wildest, most violent boxing matches I’ve ever witnessed. Rozicki threw the kitchen sink at Billam-Smith, who took everything the Canadian could throw at him, then returned fire with interest.
Rozicki had built his name from simply overwhelming his opponents with sheer power and pressure, but against Billam-Smith, he faced someone who was as stubborn as he was durable. And while “CBS” showed incredible toughness in the face of Rozicki’s onslaught, he quickly fired back with smarter, slicker, more accurate shots of his own. While Rozicki walked forward, throwing bombs, Billam-Smith was sniping from close range.
The action went back and forth, with each round seemingly even more chaotic than the last, until two huge rounds from Billam-Smith in the sixth and seventh forced Rozicki’s corner to pull their man out of the fight.
It was one of those “call your friends” fights that evoked memories of the legendary Forrest Griffin vs Stephan Bonnar bout at the TUF 1 Finale. And, in many ways, this fight could become the Griffin-Bonnar moment for Zuffa Boxing. It’s still early in the organization’s development, and now they have an instant classic on their highlight reel.
It came at the perfect time – on Zuffa Boxing’s first show away from the Meta APEX, and right at the start of their new UK TV partnership with Sky Sports – and it gave the British boxing audience a glimpse of what Dana White and his team are looking to deliver. The British boxing scene just got even more interesting.
