UFC Vegas 75: Who is Felipe Bunes?
Brazil sends forth another future UFC title contender in Felipe Bunes this Saturday, June 17 at UFC Vegas 75: Vettori vs. Cannonier
Felipe Bunes is set to make his UFC debut this Saturday, June 17 on the UFC Fight Night card headlined by Marvin Vettori and Jared Cannonier. Though he will be setting foot in the octagon for the first time, Bunes has been around the MMA world for a while now.
Bunes began his career in late 2011 and would have a number of fights, picking up some wins and loss but ultimately gaining experience in the process. Between 2015 and 2018, Bunes would have a dominant eight-fight winning streak staying consistent and climbing through the Brazilian rankings.
Bunes soon found himself competing at Russia's Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACA). In his first three fights with the promotion, Bunes found himself on the wrong end of decisions but this fueled an incredible finish in his fourth showing for ACA. A second-round Triangle Armbar submission against an experienced Mikael Silander was enough to gain the recognition he deserved, and soon enough a major opportunity came knocking.
Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA) was to be Bunes' new home and, in early 2022, he would make his debut for the promotion as the headliner of LFA 124. Bunes would be unsuccessful in his efforts but bounced back in his second fight for the promotion to get a split decision victory. A month short of a year since his LFA debut, Bunes found himself in the prime position of challenging for the vacant LFA Flyweight Championship.
2023 promised to start off the right way for Bunes with his LFA 149 headlining bout against Yuma Horiuchi. Bunes dominated and overwhelmed Horiuchi with a vicious punch to ground 'n' pound, giving the LFA a brand new king of the flyweights. Bunes, however, had his eyes set on a bigger goal - the UFC.
Believing in his dreams
Following the announcement of Felipe Bunes' signing to the UFC in May, fight fans have been waiting in anticipation for this debut. This Saturday, Bunes walks into the UFC with a 13-6 record, with a majority of those wins coming by way of submission.
The UFC's flyweight division is witnessing a lot of moving parts at the moment, with Brandon Moreno at the helm of it all. At UFC 289, Stephen Erceg made his own UFC debut in stunning fashion and now finds himself a new entrant to the 125-lb rankings at number 14. No doubt that Bunes will be looking to achieve the same success against Zhalgas Zhumagulov this weekend.
Bunes has had the attention of fight fans for a while now, especially with LFA being broadcast on UFC Fight Pass. He appears to be getting major endorsements from the likes of Henry Cejudo and Jon Jones too. In addition to that, his training at Pitbull Brothers has allowed Bunes to train with the best in MMA.
Felipe Bunes will be looking to break into the flyweight rankings and hopefully challenge for the gold soon too, and his UFC journey begins this Saturday.
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UFC Vegas 75: Marvin Vettori vs. Jared Cannonier takes place on Saturday, June 17, 2023, live from UFC APEX in Las Vegas, NV. Follow along with FanSided MMA for all your news and highlights.