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Fight By Fight Preview | UFC Fight Night: Bonfim vs Brown
Detailing What’s On Tap And What’s At Stake At The UFC APEX On Saturday
By E. Spencer Kyte, on X @spencerkyte
Halloween just passed, which means chances are there are some chocolate and candy and general snack items kicking around your place right now, and that feels like good timing and a good analogy to me because while some cards feel like expertly crafted fine dining experiences, and others are quality restaurant menus with a little something for everyone.
But every so often, you need something that is just a good old-fashioned binge meal — something you’re going to enjoy that addresses your cravings, while also making you look forward to your next trip to a nice little bistro or a place with a prefixed menu.
Let’s get into it.
Main Event: Gabriel Bonfim vs Randy Brown
Welterweights Gabriel Bonfim and Randy Brown clash in a meeting of competitors trying to make headway in the 170-pound weight class.
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.
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.
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.
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The 41-year-old “King of Kung Fu” comes into this one having won three straight and earned consecutive dramatic knockout victories. Last November, he thrilled the crowd in Macau with a spinning wheel kick finish of Song Kenan, and then in July, he slept Carlos Leal with a short counter hook that landed clean and ended the fight in a flash.
Medic has alternated results in his five welterweight starts to date, coming into this one off a knockout win over Gilbert Urbina in August. The DWCS grad is 11-3 overall and still sports a 100-percent finishing rate and has never been to the scorecards in his career.
Will Salikhov continue to stave off Father Time and collect another stunning finish or will “The Doctor” break his pattern of welterweight results and dispatch the veteran to the hospital?
Chris Padilla vs Ismael Bonfim
Lightweight meets in the middle of the main card as Chris “Taco” Padilla squares off with Ismael Bonfim.
Padilla is one of those competitors that too many people are sleeping on, as he touches down in the Nevada desert on a six-fight winning streak, having produced victories in each of his first three UFC appearances. He arrived on short notice with zero fanfare, but a fourth straight victory would put the 30-year-old Californian in dark horse territory in the 155-pound weight class.
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.
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.
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Someone is adding another win to their streak, while the other is going home disappointed, and the process of determining who lands in which role should be thoroughly entertaining for as long as it lasts.
Christian Leroy Duncan vs Marco Tulio
Christian Leroy Duncan and Marco Tulio share the Octagon in the main card opener this weekend in Las Vegas.
Following an inconsistent start to his UFC tenure, “CLD” appears to be finding his footing, as he touches down at the APEX having earned successive wins and coming off his best performance to date. The Gloucester man got things moving in the right direction again with a decision victory over Andrey Pulyaev to start the year, but it was his first-round stoppage win over Eryk Anders that sparked renewed interest in the British hopeful and earned him a performance bonus as well.
Tulio won two fights on Dana White’s Contender Series to land a place on the roster, beating Yousri Belgaroui in Season 7 and Matthieu Duclos in Season 8, and has continued winning in pairs to begin his UFC journey. In January, the Chute Boxe Diego Lima representative stopped Ihor Potieria in the first, and in April, he dispatched Tresean Gore in the second, running his winning streak to 10 in the process.
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Both men carry forward ambitions, but as their paths cross this weekend, only one will take a step forward here. Duncan arrived with much more hype, but Tulio has put forth the more consistent and memorable performances thus far, so it will be interesting to see who emerges with their hand raised when the share the Octagon on Saturday.
Preliminary Card Pairings
Hyder Amil vs Jamall Emmers
Talented featherweights Hyder Amil and Jamall Emmers close out the prelims this weekend in a fight that carries the potential to go in any number of ways.
Amil kicked in the door last year with thrilling wins over Fernie Garcia and JeongYeong Lee, then moved to 10-0 with a split decision win over William Gomis before getting stopped quickly by Jose Miguel Delgado at UFC 317 in June. Emmers took a long and challenging road to the UFC, but has been a consistently tough out since arriving, posting a 4-4 record with two of his four setbacks coming by debated split decision verdicts.
Adrian Yanez vs Cristian Quinonez
Sound the alarms — we’ve got ourselves a potential banger in the bantamweight division as Adrian Yanez and Cristian Quinonez return to action against one another.
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.
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.
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UFC Fight Night 263 - Garcia vs. Onama
