Gabriel Bonfim is known for his dangerous jiu-jitsu skills, however, the rising welterweight contender didn’t require any grappling Saturday in the main event of a UFC Fight Night card in Las Vegas.
Bonfim knocked out Randy Brown with a big knee early in the second round to extend his winning streak to four and improve to 19-1 overall.
Bonfim attacked Brown’s lead leg early and often with low calf kicks to nullify Brown’s significant reach advantage. In fact, Bonfim landed 21 strikes in the opening round, 19 of which were leg kicks.
Brown was flattened by a knee from the clinch in the second round and the referee stepped in before Bonfim landed any follow-up shots. Brown protested the stoppage immediately.
Brazil’s Bonfim, 28, was coming off a narrow split decision win over Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson in July and is 6-1 since debuting in the UFC in 2023, with four of his wins coming by stoppage.
Jamaica's Brown, 35, had won four of his past five prior to facing Bonfim and was riding high off a big knockout win over Nicolas Dalby in April.
The 170-pound contest was the first UFC main event spotlight for both fighters.
Bonfim entered the weekend as the No. 14-ranked contender in the weight class and will maintain his spot in the top 15.
Christian Leroy Duncan kicked off the main card with an emphatic second-round knockout of Marco Tulio in an action-packed middleweight bout.
England’s Leroy Duncan was riding high off a spinning elbow knockout of Eryk Anders this summer and he frequently used spinning attacks against Tulio. Leroy Duncan wobbled Tulio with a spinning backfist before following it up with two massive right hands that put his opponent out cold on the canvas.
Leroy Duncan has won three in a row following a decision loss to Gregory Rodrigues in the summer of 2024, while Tulio had his 10-fight winning streak snapped.
Streaking flyweight Joseph Morales continued his winning ways with a first-round submission of Matt Schnell in the co-main event.
Morales won the 125-pound tournament on The Ultimate Fighter season 33 earlier this year by defeating Eduardo Henrique, Imanol Rodriguez and Alibi Idiris. Morales has won his past seven fights overall and showed off his grappling ability on Saturday at the UFC Apex.
The 31-year-old, who trains with Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, used a half-guard sweep to gain top position after Schnell initiated a grappling exchange and eventually locked in a guillotine choke that forced a tap midway through the opening round.
Uros Medic earned the biggest win of his career with a 63-second technical knockout of Muslim Salikhov in the welterweight division. Medic, 32, dropped his 41-year-old opponent with a left hand and added a couple of hammer fists before the referee halted the action as Salikhov covered up.
Serbia’s Medic has won his past two bouts via TKO that each took exactly 63 seconds. Medic has never gone the distance in his 15-fight professional career and his six KO/TKO wins are the third most in the UFC since 2021, behind only Alex Pereira’s eight and Steve Garcia’s seven.
In other action, Chris Padilla stopped Ismael Bonfim, the older brother of Gabriel, via technical knockout for his seventh consecutive win overall and four straight at the UFC level.
Bonfim, who has been finished in three of his past four outings, missed the lightweight limit by five pounds at Friday’s weigh-in and was fined 25 per cent of his purse.
This event was the penultimate Fight Night card scheduled for the UFC Apex in 2025, with the next one slated for Dec. 13.
