A lot has changed in Ismael Bonfim's life and career ahead of Saturday's fight with Axel Sola at UFC Abu Dhabi, and he's confident that it will all reflect positively in his performance—and overall health.

Bonfim hasn't entered the octagon since November of 2025, when he stepped on the scale at 161 pounds (five pounds over the non-title limit) for his lightweight bout with Chris Padilla. “Marreta†was stopped late in Round 2, and now tells MMA Fighting that making it into the cage was already a challenge on its own.

“I relied too much on dehydration,†Bonfim said of his weigh-in struggle, not a first since joining the UFC. “I got to fight week still needing to lose 22 pounds. I was bringing it down little by little, and on the day of the weight cut I still had 8.8 pounds left. I managed to lose 6.6, but with about 2.2 still to go, I just couldn't do it anymore. I'd stay in the sauna for 30 seconds and my body would already start cramping. I was getting cramps I'd never felt in my life, like cramps in my neck. That's when we decided to stop the weight cut. The previous times I'd made that kind of cut without any issues, so we thought losing 22 pounds during fight week would be manageable, but it wasn't. This time we started working on it much earlier.â€

Bonfim said “the situation was really bad†when he arrived at the UFC APEX for the official weigh-in and later collapsed before officially missing weight.

“I was standing on the scale, before the official weigh-in, and suddenly got a cramp in my neck,†Bonfim said. “I collapsed on the floor and they called the doctor. The doctor checked me and said, ‘You're going to be the first one to weigh in.'â€

“The UFC gave me tremendous support,†Bonfim continued. “Three or four hours later, while I was back at the hotel, they called to check how I was doing. On fight day, they even sent a doctor to evaluate me and determine whether I'd be able to compete. So right up until it was time to walk out, with my hands wrapped and my gloves already on, I was afraid the fight wasn't going to happen.â€

The 30-year-old lightweight didn't recover as much weight as he usually does before a fight, walking to the cage on Saturday night 10 pounds lighter than his normal 180 pounds.

“It affected me completely because I was in great shape,†Bonfim said. “I'd been training extremely well, and I was certain I was going to win that fight. Then all of this happened. In my mind I kept thinking, ‘If this fight goes into the second or third round, I'm not going to make it.' I'd pushed the dehydration way too far, and my body never recovered 100 percent. I told myself, ‘I'm going to try to knock him out or submit him in the first round.' The first round ended, I came back for the second and still felt OK, but with about 30 or 40 seconds left in the round, I basically gave in because I had nothing left.â€

Bonfim talked to his team and decided that that would be his final fight at lightweight, with the plan to move up to 170 pounds going forward. However, when the UFC called with an offer to face Sola in a 155-pound clash in Abu Dhabi, Bonfim came to his senses.

“We finally got serious,†Bonfim said. “We make a lot of mistakes because things are too easy nowadays, but enough is enough. Moving up to welterweight would've been crazy. I'm already small for lightweight, you know? Going up to 170 would've been the end of my career. That's where it would've ended. I'm a lightweight, and from now on I'm going to do things the right way. I'm not going to let my weight go above 176. I was always training, but I was never dieting. I'd only start dieting after the fight was booked, and that just wasn't working. It didn't matter that I trained if I was drinking and eating like crazy every day. Barbecue every weekend.â€

With diet under control now, Bonfim said Sola “is a very tough opponent, but I'm a really good fighter too.â€

“I'm not trying to brag, but I know I'm good,†Bonfim said. “The problem was that every time I got a fight booked, I was more worried about making weight than about performing. That gets into your head, and in the end you don't perform the way you should.â€

“Every fighter has openings,†he continued. “I've been preparing mentally to fight three full rounds no matter what. If the knockout comes, great. If the submission comes, great. But I'm going into this fight ready to battle for all three rounds. In my last few fights, I went in thinking, ‘I'm going to knock him out.' Then the knockout didn't happen and I'd get frustrated. This time I'm going in with the mindset of fighting hard for three rounds.â€