Former two-time undisputed welterweight title challenger, Stephen Thompson is set to make his first outing of the year later this summer, booking a showdown against surging Brazilian prospect, Gabriel Bonfim at UFC Nashville on July 12. from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.
Thompson, the current number twelve ranked welterweight contender, has been sidelined since UFC 307 back in October of last year, where he suffered a third round knockout loss against incoming headliner, Joaquin Buckley.
As for Bonfirm, the 17-1 contender has suffered just a sole Octagon loss during his breif tenure, in the form of a knockout defeat to Nicolas Dalby. And last time out, Bonfirm secured a second round D’Arce choke submission win over Khaos Williams as recent as February.
Stephen Thompson books UFC Nashville fight with Gabriel Bonfim
UFC confirmed the return of Stephen Thompson against Gabriel Bonfim this evening on their official social media.
Prior to his knockout loss to the surging, Buckley, Thompson had dropped a first round rear-naked choke submission loss to the unbeaten, Shavkat Rakhmonov — in his first submission blemish in combat sports to boot.
Without a victory since 2022, on that occasion, Simpsonville native, Thompson had turned in an eventual corner stoppage TKO win over Kevin Holland in a main event clash at UFC Fight Night Orlando.
For Bonfim, the highly-regarded welterweight contender is a product of Dana White’s Contender Series — and has racked up notable wins over the likes of the above-mentioned Williams, as well as Ange Loosa, Mounir Lazzez, and Trevin Giles.
UFC Fight Night Nashville takes place on July 12. with a heavyweight main event between former interim and undisputed heavyweight title challenger, Derrick Lewis, and Tallison Teixeira set.
