"Decided to give him some for his actions" - Vinc Pichel tears into opponent Ismael Bonfim after UFC Sao Paulo fight cancelation
This weekend, the UFC is set to visit Sao Paulo, Brazil for its latest event, and one fighter who now won’t be competing is Vinc Pichel.
The Fight Night event is set to be headlined by a heavyweight clash pitting hot prospect Jailton Almeida against former title challenger Derrick Lewis over five rounds in what promises to be a fun match-up.
Earlier today, Almeida and Lewis comfortably made weight for their clash. However, Ismael Bonfim, who was scheduled to fight Vinc Pichel on the main card, did not.
‘Marreta’ was only able to hit the scales at 159.5 lbs, a whopping 3.5 lbs over the 156 lbs maximum limit for a lightweight fighter. Pichel, meanwhile, hit 155.5 lbs with apparent ease.
Shortly after the weigh-in, it was confirmed that Vinc Pichel vs. Ismael Bonfim had been canceled altogether. Now, it appears to be official that ‘From Hell’ was responsible for the cancellation. The 40-year-old veteran took to Instagram to seemingly explain that he refused to fight Bonfim after the Brazilian missed weight.
In Pichel’s words, he “decided to take away (Bonfim’s) ability to fight and make money for this unprofessionalism”.
View Pichel’s Instagram post below.
Vinc Pichel vs. Ismael Bonfim canceled: What did Chase Hooper say?
The weigh-ins for this weekend’s UFC Fight Night event saw three fighters fail to make their allotted weight: Ismael Bonfim, Victor Hugo, and Eduarda Moura.
Bonfim and Hugo have both since seen their fights scrapped, while Moura’s fight with Montserrat Ruiz will go ahead, albeit at a catchweight.
Shortly after the weigh-ins, though, lightweight prospect Chase Hooper took to X (formerly Twitter) to raise his concerns with the current rules around weight misses.
In an impassioned post, Hooper stated that there is “no upside” for a fighter who makes weight to take a bout with an overweight foe.
Fascinatingly, based on his willingness to withdraw from his fight with the overweight Bonfim, it appears that Vinc Pichel is one fighter who shares this sentiment.