SALT LAKE CITY – Does [autotag]Trevin Giles[/autotag] have a sign on his back that says “WILL ONLY FIGHT PROSPECTS”?
He must wonder that sometimes. Giles played host to Roman Dolidze’s third UFC fight. He was the opponent for Dricus du Plessis’ second bout in the promotion. He’s been an early opponent in the UFC tenures of a lot of up-and-comers lately.
Saturday, it happens again when Giles (16-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) takes on unbeaten welterweight prospect Gabriel Bonfim (14-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) to close out the UFC 291 prelims on ABC and ESPN at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Their fight leads into the main card on pay-per-view.
“On one hand, it’s like a compliment to me,” Giles said at Wednesday’s media day. “You get these guys that are coming in that are good, and the UFC, to me, I feel like they’re just trying to see how good they are, or if they’re as good as what people think they are. I’m a name that they think of. So to me, in a way, it’s like the UFC saying they recognize my talent. But I would like to start getting more names and stuff, too, not just the new guys coming in.”
Giles, who has back-to-back wins over Louis Cosce and Preston Parsons, acknowledged his opponent brings much to the table. Bonfim, along with his brother Ismael, got to the UFC through Dana White’s Contender Series in 2022. He won his official UFC debut with a quick submission.
“I think he’s good,” Giles said. “The guy is a good fighter. He’s undefeated for a reason. He has some decent boxing, and then he kind of pairs his takedown attempts pretty well with that – get you worried about his boxing and then get a takedown on you. He has good transitional submissions. … I think that he’s good. I think that he’s a real competitor, and I’m excited for the fight.”
But Giles had to pump the brakes on the pro-Bonfim talk when told his opponent thinks his jab is better. Giles thinks he has the best jab in the UFC.
“It’s not better than mine. No way. No way (his jab is quicker). I mean, we get to fight. I respect that. That’s cool. But no, I highly doubt that (he’s quicker). But I guess we’ll find out.”
Check out Giles’ full pre-fight interview in the video above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 291.