UFC Fight Night: Muhammad vs. Bonfim: Live Winners and Losers, Results
It looked a lot different for Belal Muhammad just two years ago.
The popular Palestinian welterweight, known by his "Remember The Name" tagline, became king of the 170-pounders at the UFC 304 show in July 2024, when he beat local hero Leon Edwards in front of an adoring English crowd.
But it'd been something less than strawberries and cream since for the now-37-year-old, who lost to Jack Della Maddalena in his first title defense and dropped a subsequent decision to rising contender Ian Machado Garry six months later.
He faced another ambitious climber atop a 12-bout Fight Night show at the Apex facility on Saturday in Las Vegas, where he met 11th-ranked Brazilian export Gabriel Bonfim in a scheduled five-rounder.
Bonfim had won four straight since a lone career loss in November 2023, most recently squashing veteran gatekeeper Randy Brown in two rounds last November.
B/R's combat team delivered a real-time account of the card's definitive winners and losers. Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought of your own in the app comments.
Winner: Optics over Theatrics
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Muhammad had the theatrics. Bonfim had the optics.
The taller, longer, powerfully built Brazilian didn't overwhelm the ex-champ with power or pace, but the sheer visuals of him advancing forward and keeping a habitually aggressive foe on his back foot was enough to cement the perception he was in control.
Muhammad, who claimed he'd take a less-experienced opponent into deep waters, cleverly strutted to the cage with Bobby Darin's 1958 hit "Splish Splash" as a soundtrack.
It wasn't enough to sway judges, however, who rewarded Bonfim's big edges in head and leg strikes—which bloodied Muhammad's face and prompted him to switch stances—with a trio of shutouts on the scorecards after five rounds fought entirely on the feet.
B/R's W/L card had it slightly closer, 49-46, after giving Muhammad the fourth round.
"This is a former champion who trailed a path that few have had," said Bonfim, who called for a follow-up bout with another former champion, Della Maddalena. "I was able to neutralize his gameplan with our gameplan, and we worked it to perfection."
Loser: Not Close Enough
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There was good news and bad news for Edmen Shahbazyan.
The good news is that there was precious little separating him from highly-ranked middleweight contender Brendan Allen across their three-round co-main event.
The bad news is that was still enough for the judges to award Allen, now 10-2 in his last 12 fights, a narrow unanimous decision after 15 minutes of compelling stand-up action.
Two judges saw it 30-27 and a third had it 29-28 for the winner, who had a narrow 91-90 edge in total strikes and scored the fight's lone takedown in the final half minute.
It was the biggest test for Shahbazyan in an up-and-down UFC career that began with him as a touted prospect and Contender Series winner in 2018, stalled across a stretch of five losses in seven fights from 2020 to 2024, and reignited with three straight wins in 2025.
"He's motivated. He's young. He's hungry. He's a striker," Allen said of Shahbazyan, who trains with champion Sean Strickland and had him in the corner. "Sean sacrificed his boy, let's hope he's next. This was a big risk for me, so let's see."
Winner: Climbing the Ladder
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They met Saturday evening as rising lightweights.
But don't be surprised if skilled 20-somethings Farés Ziam and Tom Nolan get together again with something bigger on the line than a back-end ranking at 155 pounds.
For what it's worth, Nolan, a 26-year-old from Australia, earned a W in the first go-round by narrow unanimous decision after out-landing his 29-year-old foe to the head (13-11), body (11-3) and legs (7-2) and surviving Ziam's second-round try for a submission by kimura.
"Twenty hours a week to different cities to get training for this fight, and we got here and we got it done," Nolan said. "I came in really, really fit and I'm proud."
The win was Nolan's 11th in 12 pro fights and his fifth in a row in the UFC after a loss in his January 2024 debut, equaling countryman Quillan Salkilld's division-best streak.
"I lost my debut in this cage, and everybody wrote me off," said Nolan, who called out former title challenger Renato Moicano after the fight. "Now I'm gonna wake up Monday morning with a ranking next to my name."
Winner: Controlling the Noise
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It was a game of chants.
During the few moments when Santiago Luna and Bryce Mitchell stood and struck from distance, the prevailing Apex noise was sing-song choruses of "Lu-Na" and "Mex-I-Co."
But for the rest of time, when Mitchell was either pinning his 21-year-old foe against the fence or grinding him horizontally into the mat, it was "U-S-A, U-S-A."
Across three rounds and nearly 15 minutes, American superiority carried the day.
Mitchell won his second straight fight since dropping 10 pounds from featherweight to bantamweight and earned his 10th UFC victory overall, knocking Luna from the ranks of the unbeaten with an arm triangle submission with just eight seconds remaining.
"A complete showing from Bryce Mitchell in victory," blow-by-blow man Brendan Fitzgerald said. "That was just a wave that would not stop."
Loser: Familiar Fate
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Junior Tafa is no stranger to being finished early.
But Saturday's first-round loss to unbeaten Polish light heavyweight Iwo Baraniewski at least looked a little different than some others.
The Australian veteran was compromised by a hard kick to the left leg, dropped to the floor in obvious discomfort and was finished by a subsequent series of hammer fists that barely landed or did damage, but yielded no competitive response.
That left referee Dan Miragliotta no choice but to step in and wave things off at 1:25 of the opening round, giving Tafa his fifth UFC finish loss and second in less than five minutes.
Tafa had been submitted by heel hook, arm triangle and rear-naked choke in his last three losses and the TKO loss against Baraniewski was just the second of his career.
"We prepared for it," Baraniewski said. "That was one of the plans, to go for the calf kicks."
Loser: Delayed Reaction
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Matt Schnell was slow to recover, but quick to disagree.
The flyweight veteran was drilled with a hard right hand from Alessandro Costa that left him jelly-legged and preceded a face-first tumble to the mat.
A dozen or so subsequent hammer fists didn't all land directly, but the lack of response prompted referee Herb Dean to intervene for a TKO finish at 2:32 of the first round.
Schnell reacted to Dean's tap on his shoulder by trying to wrestle Costa toward the fence and seemed indignant when reminded of the stoppage, whispering "I wasn't hurt, I'm sorry" into Costa's ear before the official announcement.
It was a fifth loss in six fights and ninth in 16 overall UFC appearances for Schnell, a finishing specialist with 11 early wins in his 17 career victories. The two had been scheduled to fight in September 2024 and met Saturday at a 130-pound catchweight.
"I love to be active like this. We were ready to go," Costa said. "This was something I said I wanted to do."
Winner: Showing His Stuff
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Floyd Mayweather Jr. made a career of saying "There are levels to this."
And clearly Marcus McGhee was listening.
The burly bantamweight showed better footwork, better pressure and better creativity than opponent John Yannis throughout their prelim card three-rounder, ultimately walking away with a unanimous decision over the former Fury Fighting Championship titleholder.
"You could see the flow and the rhythm of McGhee was just a bit different," analyst Dominick Cruz said. "It got Yannis to just sit and stare sometimes instead of just letting it go."
Yannis had split two UFC fights since his Fury title win in May 2025, while McGhee was back for the first time since dropping a narrow three-round decision last summer to 135-pound champ Petr Yan, who won the belt in his next fight five months later.
"I have other tricks in my bag," McGhee said, "and my coaches wanted me to start resorting to those."
Winner: Club and Sub
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Édgar Cháirez is a tough guy to deal with.
He's a tall, lanky flyweight at 5'7", has ample power in his punches from distance and can handle himself admirably on the ground, too.
All those tools were on display in a brief encounter with 15th-ranked Mexican opponent Bruno Silva, who was dropped twice with punches and ultimately finished with a rear-naked choke submission at 4:13 of the first round.
"I come from a very, very tough life and that's what makes me freaking tough. I'm right now 15th," Cháirez said, "but pretty soon we're going to take the 1 out of there."
A one-two combination yielded a knockdown halfway through the round, but the end came shortly after a charging Silva was again dumped by a hard right uppercut. Cháirez quickly seized his foe's back and wrapped his left arm under Silva's neck to draw the surrender.
"This is pure Mexican boxing," he said. "Call me mini-Pereira because I'm going to put people to sleep. All I want to do is fight."
Winner: Patience Before Punishment
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Chelsea Chandler is a patient woman.
She'd not appeared in a UFC fight in 14 months and hadn't won one in 27, so approaching Priscila Cachoeira with a step-by-step process wasn't foreign to her.
The 35-year-old weathered a fight-opening stand-up barrage from the powerful Brazilian, landed strikes of her own to get her opponent to the mat and took over from there on the way to a submission via armbar at 3:42 of the opening round.
Chandler initially appeared as if she'd chase a win by choke, but instead bided her time, waited for Cachoeira to put herself in a vulnerable spot, then seized her left arm and drew a quick surrender upon locking in the finishing maneuver.
It leveled her UFC record at 3-3 and completed her comeback from myriad health issues since her last appearance.
"You can expect me to get back with a vengeance," Chandler said. "(Those who beat me) fought me when I was f'ed up. I think people do get second chances and I'm here for it."
Winner: Making a Pitch
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Joanderson Brito didn't seem concerned.
The 31-year-old Brazilian was being outhustled and generally outdone by aggressive American opponent Jordan Leavitt through the first half of the first round of their featherweight encounter, but he was far from panicking.
Instead, Brito landed a hard strike to prompt a desperate takedown attempt, then quickly seized Leavitt's neck in a front choke and drew a fight-ending tap at 4:19 of the round.
It was the 16th finish of his career and sixth as a 145-pounder in the UFC, placing him second in the promotion among active featherweights.
He greeted the win by stripping off his fight shorts and posing in the center of the mat, then made an aggressive plea for a bonus.
"This is the 10th fight I had in the greatest organization in the world," he said. "This was the first fight of a new contract, a new renovation. I felt a need to be here. I love being here. If the UFC would like to bless me with a bonus I can buy myself a house and get married."
Loser: Waking Up Echoes
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Well, Yuneisy Duben will always have the Contender Series.
The 29-year-old Venezuelan flyweight earned an octagonal contract and caught the eye of analyst Dominick Cruz with a first-round KO win 21 months ago that Cruz labeled his favorite moment in the history of the show.
Her problem? She's not managed the same success since.
Duben was a first-round victim in her official promotional debut six months after the sensational show performance, then returned Saturday on the wrong end of a three-round split decision against unbeaten prospect Jeisla Chaves.
Inactivity in the opening round wound up doing Duben in this time around, as Chaves got the nod in the opening five minutes on two of three scorecards and wound up splitting the final two rounds to earn 29-28 margins in the eyes of two judges, offsetting one in Duben's favor.
B/R's W/L scorecard agreed with the majority, giving Chaves the slow-moving opening session thanks to cleaner landed shots and a clear win in the second as she took Duben down and chased a first career finish by rear-naked choke.
Loser: Staying Safe
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Ariane Carnelossi didn't know how good she had it.
Sort of.
The typically hyper-aggressive Brazilian strawweight was driven to the floor by a hard right hand at the end of a combination from second-time opponent Ketlen Souza, but rather than staying horizontal and regrouping before rejoining the fray, she gamely tried to stand.
Unfortunately, Souza's left foot connected with her head at the instant her hands left the canvas, driving her back to the fence in a heap and prompting an intervention from referee Chris Tognoni a split-second after Souza connected with a final, finishing left hand.
The finish, which reversed Carnelossi's third-round TKO when the two women met in 2019, came at 1:34 of the first.
"I've been waiting for this fight for eight years. I've been waiting for Ariane for eight years," Souza said. "Everything was mapped. I'm very happy that I was able to do this with a performance like that."
Full Card Results
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Main Card
Gabriel Bonfim def. Belal Muhammad by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)
Brendan Allen def. Edmen Shahbazyan by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Tom Nolan def. Farés Ziam by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Bryce Mitchell def. Santiago Luna by submission (arm triangle), 4:52, Round 3
Iwo Baraniewski def. Junior Tafa by TKO (kick), 1:25, Round 1
Preliminary Card
Alessandro Costa def. Matt Schnell by TKO (punch), 2:32, Round 1
Marcus McGhee def. John Yannis by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Édgar Cháirez def. Bruno Silva by submission (rear-naked choke), 4:13, Round 1
Chelsea Chandler def. Priscila Cachoeira by submission (armbar), 3:42, Round 1
Joanderson Brito def. Jordan Leavitt by submission (front choke), 4:19, Round 1
Jeisla Chaves def. Yuneisy Duben by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Ketlen Souza def. Ariane Carnelossi by KO (kick), 1:34, Round 1
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