Pedro Munhoz and Sean O’Malley face off on Saturday in a bantamweight fight at UFC 276 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Munhoz is currently ranked 9th in the division while O’Malley is ranked 13th in the league.
Pedro Munhoz comes into this fight with a 19-7 record overall but he has lost four of his last five fights. Munhoz’s last fight came against Dominick Cruz in December of 2021 and he didn’t look great. Munhoz was outstruck 103-74 and that led to the unanimous decision loss. His last win came back in February of 2021 against Jimmie Riveria and that was by unanimous decision. Munhoz is averaging 5.50 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 6.09 significant strikes per minute. He is averaging 0.57 takedowns every 15 minutes and he is successful on 20 percent of his takedown attempts. In this fight, if Munhoz wants a chance to find success he is going to need to try and limit some damage.
On the other side of this matchup is Sean O’Malley who sits with a 15-1 record overall and he has won three fights in a row. His only loss came by knockout to Marlon Vera in August of 2020. O’Malley’s last fight came against Raulian Paiva in December of 2021 and it was late in the first round of that fight he was by knockout. Each of O’Malley’s last five wins has been ended by knockout. He is averaging 8.26 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 3.52 significant strikes per minute. O’Malley is an elite striker and in this fight, if he can avoid the leg kicks, he will be in good shape to win this one.
Munhoz is a good fighter, and he is going to try and use the leg kicks to find success, but I expect O’Malley is going to be ready for it, and keep the distance. O’Malley is such an elite striker and he is going to inflict a ton of damage on Munhoz. As the fight goes on, Munhoz is going to have no answer, and O’Malley is going to secure the easy victory. Back O’Malley by knockout.
AUTHOR: Shane Mickle
Mitch's Take...
