There is some symmetry between Brito and ascending contender Diego Lopes, who climbed into the Top 5 with a win over Brian Ortega at Noche UFC a couple weeks back.
The Brazilians faced off in the second to last fight on the first episode of Season 5 of Dana White’s Contender Series, with Brito earning a technical decision win when the bout was halted 10 seconds into the second round after he accidentally poked Lopes in the eye, rendering him unable to continue. Brito earned a contract, Lopes joined him on the roster last May, and through six UFC appearances, the two men have identical records inside the Octagon.
Brito, like Lopes, dropped his promotional debut on the scorecards, and since then, “Tubarao” has garnered five straight victories to climb to the fringes of the Top 15 in the featherweight division. After scoring a pair of wins last year over Westin Wilson and Jonathan Pierce, the Chute Boxe Joao Emilio representative added to his win total with a second-round stoppage win over Jack Shore in May, battering the Welshman’s leg enough to cause a deep gash that was gnarly enough to prompt the ringside physician to wave off the contest.
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Though he was forced to withdraw from a high-profile matchup with Dan Ige, whom he’s called out multiple times, penciled in for July, Brito returns here in an interesting pairing with French prospect William Gomis.
The 27-year-old MMA Factory fighter has gone 3-0 to begin his UFC tenure, extending his overall winning streak to 11 in the process. After garnering decision wins over Jarno Errens and Francis Marshall in his first two outings, Gomis collected a third-round stoppage win over Yanis Ghemmouri last year in Paris before a trio of matchups failed to materialize for one reason or another, leaving him on the sidelines for the past year.
Much like Lopes, Brito has looked the part of a future contender during his current five-fight winning streak, earning finishes each time out while facing a number of quality opponents. Though he’s well behind his former opponent at the moment, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Brito join his compatriot in the rankings in the not too distant future, and from there, who knows — perhaps their paths will cross at some time again down the line?
