Bonfim targets Makhachev throne with Muhammad 'test' at UFC Vegas 118

Gabriel Bonfim steps into the UFC Vegas 118 main event on Saturday, June 7, against former welterweight champion Belal Muhammad with one eye already fixed on Islam Makhachev’s title. The 28-year-old Brazilian, riding a four-fight winning streak that includes stoppages of Khaos Williams, Stephen Thompson and Randy Brown, sees the Muhammad bout as a live audition for a championship run.

“We’re going to run a test now,” Bonfim told MMA Fighting. “On Saturday, June 6, there will be a test, and we’ll see if we’re ready.” He believes his luta livre grappling — the Brazilian submission-wrestling discipline — gives him a stylistic answer to Makhachev’s dominant wrestling, calling a potential victory over the champion “historic” and “huge.”

Muhammad arrives in difficult form, having lost back-to-back decisions to Jack Della Maddalena and Ian Machado Garry, results that snapped an 11-fight unbeaten streak built on wins over Leon Edwards, Sean Brady, Gilbert Burns, Demian Maia and Thompson. In 29 professional bouts, the former champion has been stopped only once — a knockout by Vicente Luque a decade ago — before avenging that defeat in a 2022 rematch.

Bonfim respects Muhammad’s durability but is confident he has the tools to break through it. “He’s a guy who absorbs punches really well,” Bonfim said. “He has an annoying style, but I believe that with my distance management and my striking, I can knock him out. And at any moment, if he wants to take me down, he’s going to get submitted. That’s a fact.”

The matchup was not Bonfim’s first choice — he had hoped to face Leon Edwards after the Brown win — but he has embraced the opportunity, describing it as “a chance the UFC is giving me to stay right there among the contenders.” His preparation has been the most extensive of his career, spanning more than four months.

Bonfim is also candid about the title picture. With Ian Garry, Carlos Prates and Michael Morales all ahead of him in the queue for a Makhachev shot, a win on Saturday is unlikely to deliver an immediate title fight. Instead, he sees a potential rematch with Della Maddalena or a meeting with Brady as the realistic next step — provided he wins in style.

“Depending on how I win,” Bonfim said, “with a big knockout or a submission before the five rounds” — the implication being that a spectacular finish could accelerate his climb regardless of the crowded contender landscape.

Muhammad, meanwhile, enters the cage needing a performance to re-establish himself near the top of the welterweight division after two consecutive setbacks. Bonfim, for his part, believes age and better opposition have exposed the limits of a style that served Muhammad well for years. “Even now that he’s around 37 or 38 years old, his style hasn’t changed,” Bonfim said, “but they matched him up with better opponents so his game didn’t work as well.”