Rivalries: Vinc Pichel

Even a past-his-prime Vinc Pichel can be a fly in the ointment for ambitious Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweights.

“The Ultimate Fighter” Season 15 semifinalist will return to the Octagon for the first time in more than a year when he locks horns with Ismael Bonfim in a featured UFC Fight Night 231 attraction on Saturday at Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Pichel, 40, enters the cage with wins in three of his past four outings. However, the Factory X standout finds himself on the rebound following a unanimous decision defeat to former Olympic silver medalist Mark O. Madsen at UFC 273 in April 2022. “From Hell” has delivered more than half (eight) of his 14 professional victories by knockout or technical knockout.

As Pichel moves ever closer to his forthcoming clash with Bonfim at 155 pounds, a look at a few of the rivalries that have helped shape his career to this point:

Rustam Khabilov

The Jackson-Wink MMA rep made quite an impression in his promotional debut when he knocked out the previously unbeaten Pichel with a belly-to-back suplex and follow-up punches as part of “The Ultimate Fighter 16” Finale undercard on Dec. 15, 2012 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Khabilov brought it to a close 2:15 into Round 1. A clearly outgunned Pichel offered virtually no meaningful offense. His Russian counterpart closed the distance inside the first minute and delivered three belly-to-back suplexes, the last of which left a prone Pichel dazed and exposed on the mat. Khabilov then unleashed a series of left hands for the finish.

Anthony Njokuani

Pichel cruised to a unanimous decision over the World Extreme Cagefighting veteran in their UFC 173 lightweight prelim on May 24, 2014 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Scores were 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28. Njoukuani was given no space through which to execute his game plan. Pichel turned on the jets in the second round, where he swarmed the Nigeria-born Texan with clinches and neutralized him with one takedown after another. The Lancaster, California, native appeared close to a finish at one point in the frame, as he tagged the exposed Njokuani with thudding right hands on the ground. The muay thai stylist survived, only to be taken down three times and mounted twice over the final five minutes.

Gregor Gillespie

The former NCAA wrestling champion took care of Pichel with an arm-triangle choke in the second round of their UFC Fight Night 131 co-main event on June 1, 2018 at the Adirondack Bank Center in Utica, New York. Pichel bowed out 4:06 into Round 2 in what remains the only submission defeat of his career. The relentless Gillespie struck for multiple takedowns in a one-sided first round, hunted for chokes and even advanced to full mount at one point. Not much changed in the middle stanza. Gillespie executed three more takedowns, forced his counterpart into some poor decisions and made his move. He set off a scramble by moving to mount, floated to the back and bit down on the arm-triangle when Pichel tried to free himself. There was no escape, and the tapout followed soon after.

Jim Miller

Pichel overcame a slow start, excelled in grappling exchanges and continued to establish himself as a late-bloom contender in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s lightweight division when he laid claim to a unanimous decision over the longtime Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt in the featured UFC 252 prelim on Aug. 15, 2020 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Scores were 29-28, 29-28 and 29-27. Miller executed a takedown from the clinch in the first round, scrambled to the Californian’s back and ran through a series of submissions, moving from a rear-naked choke to a guillotine to a calf slicer. Pichel survived, extended the bout and overwhelmed the former Cage Fury Fighting Championships titleholder with a robust clinch, repeated takedowns and punishing ground-and-pound. Miller appeared to be closing on a Hail Mary guillotine late in the third round, but Pichel freed himself from his clutches, resumed his assault and bled the remaining time off the clock.