Fighting family: Tearing down walls to survive — and let the Bonfim brothers shine
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Gabriel Bonfim and Ismael Bonfim are two promising talents in the UFC welterweight and lightweight divisions. It was all possible thanks to another member of the family.
The story began in 1996, when Orlando Bonfim and Agripina Bonfim moved from Bahia to Sao Sebastiao looking for a better life. Odair Bonfim, the firstborn—who would eventually have 11 siblings, including Gabriel and Ismael—noticed something odd coming from the backyard: the neighbor used his house as a karate gym, and Odair was curious to see more of that. The 10-year-old literally opened a hold on the wall to peak the class, and fell in love with combat sports.
Odair insisted he wanted to take classes, but the family wouldn’t be able to provide much. Orlando agree to pay for the first month, and that was it. When it was time to renew the membership, Odair decided to walk around the town collecting aluminum cans and other types of metals and junk to sell at the local scrapyard, and use the money to pay for the karate classes.
Years passed, and Odair was now a 17-year-old black belt in both karate and kickboxing. The Bonfim clan was now complete with 12 children, but missing an important part when Orlando abandoned the family during his battle against alcohol. Gabriel and Ismael were still very young and Agripina was always busy taking care of so many kids, so Odair and one sister had to get jobs to put food on the table.
“I was teaching in a gym and working as a security guard at night on the weekends,” Odair told MMA Fighting. “I got other jobs here and there because there were a lot of people to feed. My father left a large group when he left, right? My sister and I worked day and night, but always confident we would get it done. It wasn’t a weight on the shoulder for us, it was a matter of honor. We couldn’t leave the kids with no breakfast, lunch and dinner. There was no luxury, it was always a battle. It was select meat and it wasn’t good [laughs], but we kept working, battling and winning.”
Odair, known as “Samuray” in the area, realized he would make more money if he had his own gym. Money was a problem, and there was no way he could rent a place to build a gym, so he simply tore down walls on their own house to open space for gym equipment. On top of that, he went do school to become a certified gym instructor.
“The place was packed, and I had no idea where that was taking us and how important that would be today,” said the 51-year-old Odair. “I started to break the walls of the house and my mother got mad. ‘You’re destroying the house,’ she said. And I responded, ‘We’ll buy another one later, let’s keep breaking this one.’ That’s when things started to get better. I struggled a lot, but managed to buy a [Volkswagen] Beetle that traded it for gym equipment. I knew that martial arts alone would be enough to provide to them, so I needed to have a gym too.”
Francisco Trinaldo, who would years later join the UFC through the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil reality show, was one of his first students of that improvised gym. Samuray said he graduated many kickboxers in the area before MMA went popular in Brasilia, but had to retire as a competitor after tearing his knee ligaments. That’s right on time when his brothers younger brothers Gabriel and Ismael got old enough to take fighting more seriously.
Ismael made his professional MMA debut in August 2011, days before UFC finally returned to Brazil after a 13-year hiatus for UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro, and was 6-3 in the sport when Gabriel joined as a pro fighter in late 2014. The Bonfim brothers fought all over the country, making a name for themselves and winning 24 of 27 bouts combined until LFA offer them a shot.
“I never gave up,” Odair said. “At times, even members of the family told me to get them regular jobs, that there were only training, but I said no, it would all work in the end.”
Both Bonfims went 2-0 under the LFA banner to earn chances at Dana White’s Contender Series, with Ismael punching his ticket to the UFC with a decision victory over Nariman Abbasov on the same night Gabriel tapped Trey Waters with a Von Flue choke.
The Brazilian duo stumbled once each inside the octagon, with Ismael tapping to Benoit Saint Denis and Gabriel losing via TKO to veteran Nicolas Dalby, but both rebounded in mid-2024 to now once again partner on the same night. They return Saturday at UFC Vegas 102, with Gabriel facing off against Khaos Williams and Ismail taking on Nazim Sadykhov, and Samuray is ready for all the extra work it represents.
“It’s twice the work, but at the same time it’s great to have them both there with me,” Odair said. “I have to work and run twice as much to fulfill their needs. For example, Gabriel does 12 rounds of pad work, and then it’s time for Ismael’s 12 rounds, which means it’s 24 rounds for me [laughs]. And same thing for conditioning training. I work twice as much, but I find it very interesting because they’re there supporting each other. In the end, it’s twice the celebration. It’s very satisfying, so it’s all worth it in the end.”
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Ismael Bonfim and Nazim Sadykhov meet on the main card of UFC Fight Night 251. The lightweight bout takes place Saturday, Feb. 15, at UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Check out this quick preview of the matchup.
Bonfim (20-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC) is making his fourth UFC appearance since appearing on Dana White’s Contender Series in September 2022. He started off with two victories but then dropped a November 2023 fight to Benoit Saint-Denis by first-round submission. Bonfim most recently defeated Vinc Pichel by unanimous decision last May.
Sadykhov (9-1-1 MMA, 2-0-1 UFC) is also a Contender Series alum from August 2022. Sadykhov hasn’t lost in three UFC appearance, although he most recently fought to a majority draw against Viacheslav Borshchev in November 2023.
The oddsmakers favor Bonfim at -220, with Sadykhov listed at +176 via FanDuel.
Bonfim and Sadykhov are expected to walk to the cage at approximately 7:40 p.m. ET. The fight will stream on ESPN+.
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 251.
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More UFC!
SGPN Parlay for Saturday (February 15th): UFC Parlay
Yippee – I hit my parlay play on Thursday! 2025 is still a rotten year compared to 2024 for my parlays, but maybe this is the start of a heater. We can always hope. For my SGPN Parlay for Saturday (February 15th): UFC Parlay, we’re off to the UFC Apex in Las Vegas for a brotherly parlay. Let’s go!
Start Time: 4:00 PM EST (ESPN+)
What’s a “brotherly parlay”, you ask? It’s when you parlay two brothers fighting on the same UFC card together into a winning parlay. It’s a very specific and rare thing. But tomorrow is one of those rare occasions where I’m applying it.
The brothers in question would be Ismael and Gabriel Bonfim of Brazil, who are fighting tomorrow at UFC Vegas 102. And, obviously, I’m picking both of them to win (or this wouldn’t be a brotherly parlay, would it?!).
Ismael is my best bet for tomorrow in his fight against Nazim Sadykhov. You can read more as to why right here, but basically, he’s a much better striker and Sadykhov is coming off a long a layoff.
Gabriel fights Khaos Williams, and Williams is stepping into this fight on short notice, which historically means a fighter is going to lose (36% winning percentage to be exact). And Gabriel is so much better than Williams on the mat that I expect the Brazilian to take him down and win via his grappling.
Best Bet Parlay: Ismael Bonfim ML + Gabriel Bonfim ML (+116)
Overall Record: 60-144 (29%)
Profit (based on $100/bet): -($1,787.00)
Return on Investment: -9%
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