This should be one of two entertaining sprints involving the Bonfim
brothers. The more dynamic of the siblings goes in this one, as he
is a bouncy striker with a surprising amount of grappling skill.
While he reads as someone who is more focused on a flashy knockout,
the vast majority of the Brazilian’s wins have come via submission.
He essentially fell into one of those submission wins on Dana
White’s Contender Series in September, as Trey Waters
went for an ill-advised guillotine and fell victim to a shoulder
choke. The overall package is something to watch, though Bonfim
gets a tough test in his first UFC fight against Lazzez. Tunisia’s
Lazzez came to the UFC in 2020 as an obvious talent but also looked
to be the type of overconfident striker who would be in for a rude
awakening against more dangerous competition. Lazzez survived some
early trouble and won an impressive UFC debut against Abdul
Razak Alhassan, but those defensive issues reared their head in
his sophomore effort: a quick knockout loss against Warlley
Alves. Lazzez does seem to have learned from the defeat, as he
looked like a more mindful fighter against Ange Loosa.
Still, this should be a race to a finish between two dangerous
fighters who put offense first, and it is essentially a coinflip.
It would not be a shock to see Bonfim quickly score a takedown and
a submission, but Lazzez gets the nod thanks to his more diverse
offense and some better wrestling than you would think. The pick is
Lazzez via first-round knockout.
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