Gabriel Bonfim is best known as a grappler, but he showed off some nasty striking to get a knockout win over Randy Brown in the UFC Vegas 111 main event.
After establishing a brutal series of calf kicks in the opening round, Bonfim made Brown start guessing with his combinations and caused his opponent to duck his head down during an exchange. That led to Bonfim uncorking a knee right up the middle that absolutely blasted Brown and sent him to the canvas in a heap.
Replays showed Brown’s eyes rolling back after he absorbed the knee and referee Mark Smith rushed in to stop the fight with the end coming at 1:40 in the second round. To his credit, Brown bounced right up off the ground, but it was tough to argue with the stoppage based on the way he dropped after the knee put him out.
“We knew that the calf was something,” Bonfim said about his game plan. “We knew we needed to punish that and then the knee would show up.”
From the first second of the fight, Bonfim started blasting away with calf kicks that clearly affected Brown’s movement. Again and again, Bonfim snapped off kicks that forced Brown to switch stances momentarily to avoid further damage.
Brown started snapping off a lead jab trying to back Bonfim off, but the Brazilian kept targeting the lead leg at every turn. The repeated kicks paid huge dividends for Bonfim, who didn’t attempt a single takedown in the opening round.
As the second round got started, Brown was much busier, realizing he couldn’t allow those kicks to keep adding up or he might be hobbled as the minutes ticked away. He landed a couple of solid combinations, but Bonfim was undeterred as he kept coming back with strikes of his own.
As the welterweights continued firing back and forth, Bonfim did a good job disguising his strikes, which led to Brown ducking his head down trying to push him away. Bonfim timed it perfectly by grabbing the head and then unloading the knee that led to the jaw-dropping knockout.
Bonfim actually stumbled backwards from the momentum or he might have unloaded even more punishment before the referee stepped in to save Brown from further arm. It was a statement finish for Bonfim after his previous decision win over Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson was met with some criticism.
Now with four wins in a row on his résumé, Bonfim hopes a former interim champion answers his call with the goal of climbing the rankings in 2026.
“Colby [Covington], stop running away,” Bonfim shouted. “Give me the chance so I can take you out of the rankings right now. For sure, I’m going to retire him.”
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