Preview: Munhoz vs. O'Malley
The changing tides of the
Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight division have begun
to encroach upon
Pedro
Munhoz’s shoreline.
“The Young Punisher” will seek his first win in more than a year
when he locks horns with
Sean
O'Malley in a
UFC 276 bantamweight feature on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in
Las Vegas. Munhoz climbs into the Octagon on the heels of
back-to-back losses, his position as a Top 10 contender having
grown precarious. The 35-year-old Brazilian last appeared at UFC
269, where he wound up on the wrong side of a unanimous decision
against
Dominick
Cruz in their three-round confrontation on Dec. 11.
As Munhoz approaches his all-important showdown with O’Malley, a
look at some of the rivalries that have helped shape his career to
this point:
The Brazilian staked his claim as a potential No. 1 contender at
135 pounds with a unanimous decision over the previously unbeaten
Munhoz in their UFC 170 prelim on Feb. 22, 2014 at the Mandalay Bay
Events Center in Las Vegas. All three cageside judges struck 30-27
scorecards. A short-notice replacement for the injured
Francisco
Rivera, Munhoz held his own in his Octagon debut. However, the
former Resurrection Fighting Alliance champion found himself
outgunned in the standup department against a far more polished and
seasoned adversary. Assuncao mixed in takedowns and whacked him
with accurate punching combinations throughout the 15-minute
encounter, his handiwork resulting in visible damage to Munhoz’s
left eye and a 100-33 advantage in the significant strikes landed
department.
Munhoz submitted the former
CES MMA titleholder with a guillotine choke in the first round
of their UFC Fight Night 119 bantamweight showcase on Oct. 28, 2017
at Geraldo Jose de Almeida Gymnasium in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Font,
who had never before been finished, conceded defeat 4:03 into Round
1. The promising bantamweights exchanged on the feet from the
start, Munhoz targeting the lower leg with kicks while Font
responded with a stabbing jab and crisp punching combinations. Late
in the first round, Munhoz rang the Massachusetts native’s bell
with a left hook. A dazed and desperate Font shot for an
ill-advised takedown and was met with a sprawl, his situation
growing worse by the second. Munhoz then locked in a one-arm
guillotine choke, rolled to mount and posted his left hand on the
canvas to maximize his squeeze. The tapout came quickly.
The Serra-Longo Fight Team star subdued Munhoz with volume and
creativity, as he cruised to a unanimous decision in their UFC 238
undercard pairing on June 8, 2019 at the United Center in Chicago.
All three judges scored it 30-27. Munhoz had no answer for the
athleticism and hand speed his opponent brought to the table.
Sterling fired a variety of kicks and punches from a variety of
angles, steered clear of danger and escaped the American Top Team
rep’s vaunted guillotine on two separate occasions. Munhoz enjoyed
some success with a series of calf kicks but too often found
himself beaten to the punch. Sterling connected with a career-best
174 significant strikes in the 15-minute affair.
The former Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight titleholder
and featherweight contender put down roots at 135 pounds when he
eked out a contentious split decision over Munhoz in the UFC on
ESPN 15 headliner on Aug. 22, 2020 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Judges Derek Cleary and
Eric Colon
scored it 48-47 for Edgar, while Sal D’Amato saw it 49-46 for
Munhoz. “The Answer” adapted well to his new surroundings. Edgar
circled on the perimeter, punched effectively in combination and
accounted for the only two completed takedowns of the 25-minute
encounter. However, Munhoz landed the more telling blows and did so
with greater efficiency, particularly in the third, fourth and
fifth rounds. Still, his merciless pressure, jackhammer jab and
damaging leg kicks could neither distance him enough from Edgar nor
prevent his second consecutive defeat.
Munhoz avenged a 2015 defeat to the former
Cage Fury Fighting Championships,
King of
the Cage and
Ring of
Combat titleholder in their UFC Fight Night 186 rematch on Feb.
27, 2021 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Scores were 30-27, 30-27 and
29-28. Calf kicks were the difference. Munhoz targeted the lower
leg with a fervent ferocity, compromising his opponent’s base
inside the first five minutes and forcing him to rethink his
approach. Rivera—who had taken a split decision from Munhoz in
November 2015—cut loose with power punching combinations to the
head and body but failed to move his lower extremities out of
harm’s way, paying a steep price with each kick he absorbed. He
switched stances late in the bout, but by then, the deficit was too
great to overcome.