Chris Gutierrez might soon shed his dark horse label inside the rough-and-tumble Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight division.
The Factory X standout will test his mettle against former Resurrection Fighting Alliance titleholder Pedro Munhoz as part of the UFC on ESPN 44 main card this Saturday at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Gutierrez has quietly pieced together a seven-fight unbeaten streak since his 2018 defeat to Raoni Barcelos. He last appeared at UFC 281, where he cut down Frankie Edgar with a knee strike in the first round of their Nov. 12 encounter. Munhoz, meanwhile, has hit the skids over the last four-plus years, going 1-4 with one no contest across his past six assignments. He has not fought since his July 2 pairing with Sean O’Malley at UFC 276 ended with his being poked in the eye in the second round.
As Gutierrez and Munhoz approach their forthcoming clash at 135 pounds, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
31: Years of age for Gutierrez, who was born on April 22, 1991 in Jersey City, New Jersey.
9: Gutierrez victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 47% of his career total (19). His list of UFC victims: Edgar, Batgerel Danaa and Vince Morales. Gutierrez owns one other victory by submission (6%)—he bounced Ray Rodriguez with a rear-naked choke at a Legacy Fighting Alliance show in 2018—and nine more by decision (47%).
42: Seconds needed for Gutierrez to put away Craig Ross with punches under the Sugar Creek Showdown banner on Nov. 15, 2014. More than nine years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.
55: Rounds completed by Gutierrez as a professional mixed martial artist. He has gone the distance on 14 different occasions and carries a 9-3-2 record in those bouts.
.732: Cumulative winning percentage between the four opponents—Raoni Barcelos, Jerrod Sanders, Timur Valiev and Jake Constant—who have beaten Gutierrez. They sport a combined record of 60-22.
36: Years of age for Munhoz, who was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Sept. 7, 1986.
8: Munhoz wins by submission, accounting for 42% of his career total (19). His methods of choice: six guillotine chokes, one rear-naked choke and one heel hook. Munhoz holds five other wins by knockout or technical knockout (26%) and six more by decision (32%).
1,038: Significant strikes landed by Munhoz as a UFC bantamweight, placing him third on the promotion’s all-time list at 135 pounds. Only Rob Font (1,151) and T.J. Dillashaw (1,122) have connected with more.
350,000: Dollars in post-fight bonuses banked by Munhoz across his 18 assignments inside the Octagon. The American Top Team rep has been awarded “Fight of the Night” four times and “Performance of the Night” three times.
175: Combined victories between the seven opponents—Edgar, Dominick Cruz, Jose Aldo, Aljamain Sterling, John Dodson, Jimmie Rivera and Raphael Assuncao—who have defeated Munhoz. They boast a cumulative .763 winning percentage at 175-54-1.
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