It was a busy Thursday for fight announcements in the UFC, with a total of seven bouts officially announced for UFC Rio and UFC Vancouver by the promotion.
Among the Rio additions, heavyweight action will see Valter Walker (14-1), whose brother Johnny just had a triumphant night in Shanghai, take on one half of another UFC sibling duo in Mohammed Usman (11-4). Ricardo Ramos (17-7), meanwhile, will face Kaan Ofli (11-4-1) at featherweight.
In another promising booking, welterweight action has Gabriel Bonfim (18-1) paired up with Randy Brown (20-6). Lucas Almeida (15-4) gets Michael Aswell (10-3) in another featherweight addition to the UFC Rio card.
Thanks to the frankly barren landscape at heavyweight in the UFC, Valter Walker is already ranked #14 in the weight class. Usman (brother of ex-welterweight champ Kamaru) is not ranked. None of the remaining aforementioned fighters are currently ranked in their divisions, though for names like Brown, that’s more a matter of depth.
UFC Rio takes place on October 11, 2025 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at the Farmasi Arena. Charles Oliveira and Rafael Fiziev headline, with the following match-ups reported for the card to date:
- Charles Oliveira vs. Rafael Fiziev
- Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Montel Jackson
- Vicente Luque vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio
- Jhonata Diniz vs. Mário Pinto
- Vitor Petrino vs. Thomas Petersen
- Jafel Filho vs. Clayton Carpenter
- Lucas Rocha vs. Stewart Nicoll
- Julia Polastri vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
- Beatriz Mesquita vs. Irina Alekseeva
- Lucas Almeida vs. Michael Aswell
- Valter Walker vs. Mohammed Usman
- Gabriel Bonfim vs. Randy Brown
- Ricardo Ramos vs. Kaan Ofli
