Stephen Thompson vs Gabriel Bonfim UFC Nashville result: ‘Wonderboy’ suffers horror injury in controversial defeat

After Bonfim went for a rear naked choke, Thompson got out and even tried to grapple a bit before they met back on the feet. There, the Brazilian landed a big counter left that arguably won him the opening stanza.

As the pair engaged at the start of the second, ‘Wonderboy’ chants broke out around the arena. The second wasn’t all that different from the first with few major shots landing until a big headkick from Thompson who began to find something of a rhythm.

In the final seconds of round two, Thompson’s shin was badly cut as he had a kick checked. But he then landed two headkicks that stunned Bonfim with the injured leg, almost landing a stunning finish.

At the start of the second, Bonfim began to target that shin of Thompson, which had fully opened up and was bleeding profusely. With two minutes to go, the Brazilian ate a clean headkick and fired back, landing a takedown that infuriated the Nashville crowd.

Ultimately, Bonfim got the nod by split decision with two judges giving him the 29-28 scorecards and one going for Thompson by the same score. Fans were outraged by the result, and the winner even made sure that his rival joined him in jumping on the cage in celebration after the fight.

Stephen Thompson entered UFC Nashville as promotion’s oldest fighter

Back in February, Wonderboy celebrated his 42nd birthday, and when Vic Pichel retired earlier this year he took over the crown as the promotion’s oldest fighter. Despite this, he still looked in peak physical condition and could likely pass for decades younger than his real age.

Heading into Saturday’s fight, Thompson’s last victory was almost three years old. Back in December of 2022, he rolled back the years and put in a vintage performance against Kevin Holland, who was forced out of the fight after the fourth.

Since then, he was choked out in the second round by the undefeated Rakhmonov before being knocked out for just the second time in his career by Buckley. His only other KO defeat was back in 2019 when Anthony Pettis stunned the world with a knockout win at the same Nashville venue.