Let’s go!🇧🇷 https://t.co/X1thtJaXX3
— Felipinho Bunes (@BunesFelipinho)
November 3, 2023
A flyweight clash has been added to the first Ultimate Fighting Championship card of
2024.
Brazil’s Felipe
Bunes (13-6) will make his UFC debut against Denys
Bondar (14-4) on an event that will also feature former
heavyweight champ Andrei
Arlovski vs. Waldo
Cortes-Acosta. The news of this flyweight pairing was first
reported by Eurosport.NL,
and confirmed by Bunes in a subsequent
social media post. The currently unnamed UFC
Fight Night event will play out inside of the UFC Apex on Jan.
13.
Bunes was initially set to make his organizational debut against
Zhalgas
Zhumagulov in June at UFC on ESPN 47. However, the former
Legacy Fighting Alliance champ was barred from
competing after
testing positive for metabolic modulator GW1516. Bunes was
suspended for six months and fined by the Nevada State Athletic
Commission. The bout will mark Bunes‘ return to competition after a
year of inactivity. In his last outing, “Felipinho” secured a
first-round knockout of Yuma
Horiuchi at LFA 149 to capture the vacant flyweight strap.
Ukraine’s Bondar is coming off two consecutive losses inside the
Octagon, having debuted with the company in 2022. “Psycho” suffered
a technical decision loss against Carlos
Hernandez back in June, following a strange situation initially
ruled a knockout but later overturned due to an illegal clash of
heads during a slam. This second defeat followed an injury stoppage
against Malcolm
Gordon in February 2022, with Bondar injuring his arm trying to
stop a takedown. Before those setbacks, the 31-year-old had racked
up eight straight finishes on the regional scene, although his pro
record is currently disputed.