Gabriel Bonfim expects to insert his name in the list of future UFC title challengers when he beats former welterweight contender Stephen Thompson in the co-main event of UFC Nashville.
Bonfim was offered the biggest fight of his MMA career after choking out Khaos Williams in February, a performance that earned him a $50,000 bonus, and said he feels “honored” to be facing a “legend” of the sport on July 12.
“He has a beautiful history in the UFC,” Bonfim told MMA Fighting. “He’s had many wars and fought for the title, and I have the honor of fighting him now. I used to watch him fight and love his style, and now I see myself fighting him. That’s so cool. I’m very happy with that.”
Bonfim has called for a ranked opponent in the past but admits he didn’t expect ‘Wonderboy” to be the one. That being said, Bonfim loves it from a stylistic point of view.
“What he has is striking,” Bonfim said. “His ground is like, zero. He has good defenses, yes, but I believe that’s what he’s expecting, me to trade on the feet a little bit and already take him down. And it’s going to be different. I’ll trade a bit with him, find my distance, and I’ll dominate the fight both on the feet and on the ground.”
Thompson is a decorate striker with nearly half his MMA wins by way of knockout, including stoppages over Robert Whittaker, Johny Hendricks and Jake Ellenberger. Those finishes happened nearly a decade ago, however, and he has won only four of 10 MMA bouts since coming up short in UFC title bouts with Tyron Woodley in 2016 and 2017.
“The game matches up well for me,” Bonfim said. “He’s very good in striking, very fast, moves a lot and hits hard, but I come from boxing and have great striking, I definitely won’t disappoint, but I have a better path with grappling. Take him down and use my luta livre. I believe he’s expecting that. But I will move a lot and use feints. I’ll also trade with him if I can, or I can take him down and catch him.”
Bonfim likes Thompson’s approach to the game in a sense that he’s very polite and respectful, but that doesn’t change the fact he wants to fold him inside the octagon.
“When we’re in the octagon, we have a job to do,” Bonfim said. “I’ll do my best and he will do his best, and I believe I’ll come out with the victory. Thompson is very good, very versatile and moves a lot. He’s hard to fight with, but my moment has come. I believe this fight puts me closer to the belt, which is my goal. Unfortunately, I’ll have to get him out of the rankings with that.”
