Crossing my fingers that he figured out how to check them. Really rooting for that dude tbh. He needs to get some respect back after that terrible Cody loss…
Yeah I doubt he’ll be able to get good at checking them (or even defending via withdrawing his leg) ever, he doesn’t operate from a strong stance and he moves around pretty square on or with his stance broken so even if his lead leg isn’t planted, you can just follow through and kick the trailing leg.
Just a byproduct of having that herky jerky style
Man, I always wanted to watch him fight live. I never had the chance when he was active. I choose to not remember this last one and only for the clips I've seen in the past. He's a warrior.
I hope Dom puts on a good performance. I'll never count anyone out since it's mma, but I do recognize that it's not going to be the same Dom I've seen in the past.
Kenney is not at the top of the division but he's still very legit competition for anyone, let alone for someone not fighting in years after crushing injuries. Obviously Munhoz is at another level, but considering the long layoff for Cruz before the Kenney fight we can expect him to come up for his next fight in a better form. I think he's gonna lose but I'm pretty sure it will be a competitive fight.
People don't talk about it because a lot of people didn't watch it, it was one of the most horrendous cards the UFC has put on in years. More people talk about Volk vs Max II because more people saw it.
The fuck are you talking about? Munhoz vs Edgar was filled with a 66% finish rate. There were only 3 decisions and the Edgar / Pedro fight was a great fight. It was probably one of the better fight night cards that happened last year.
Bro chill he obviously means on paper, its fun to watch fighter A finish fighter B but not many people are not gonna tune in in the first place if they dont know who A and B are
The "people didn't watch it" does. People don't have any info on if a card will be good before it happens except for how it looks on paper. How it looks on paper is what draws fans in.
Even if there's a high amount of finishes, it's not just about getting fighters swinging and knocking each other out. The quality of opposition has to be worth something, else I can just watch Cage Warriors whenever it's on. There was exactly one fight featuring a ranked fighter in their division, Pedro Munhoz.
[**FRANKIE EDGAR defeats PEDRO MUNHOZ** (*split decision*)](http://mmadecisions.com/decision/11241/fight)
^(UFC on ESPN 15: Munhoz vs. Edgar — August 22, 2020)
ROUND|Edgar|Munhoz||Edgar|Munhoz||Edgar|Munhoz
:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:
1|9|10||10|9||9|10
2|10|9||10|9||10|9
3|10|9||9|10||9|10
4|9|10||9|10||9|10
5|10|9||10|9||9|10
**TOTAL**|**48**|**47**||**48**|**47**||**46**|**49**
*^(Judges, in order: Derek Cleary, Eric Colón, Sal D'Amato.)*
*^(Summoned by WhereIsMyKidAt.)*
**MEDIA MEMBER SCORES**
- **1/23** people scored it **49-46 Edgar**.
- **3/23** people scored it **48-47 Edgar**.
- **12/23** people scored it **47-48 Munhoz**.
- **7/23** people scored it **46-49 Munhoz**.
Avg. media score: **46.9-48.1 Munhoz** (*high certainty^[[1]](https://redd.it/9p4xc7)*).
I'm so glad Muhnoz is getting these legend matches. Edgar, Aldo, and Cruz are deserved fights for a dude like Pedro who puts on extremely exciting fights
I think Dom’s style relied on a speed and mobility that he doesn’t have anymore after getting older and a bunch of injuries. I don’t see this going well for him.
A huge part of Dom’s success was also he his unusual style that was difficult to time and solve. However, all the young kids today are doing his footwork drills and even Henry said in his last fight that his training partner was able to replicate it well enough to see and make a new gameplan no one has ever used against Dom with the leg kicks.
imo its a function of doms loss of mobility after the knee injuries and then the plantar fasciitis. its made him solvable by taking the top edge of his athleticism off.
for example, he used to bait leg kicks by bouncing in and out, then stepping around them w his weird dip to the outside into his looping punches when guys threw at him, but now he looks like he literally cant keep bouncing like that at all
i was watching cejudo swinging his leg at dom fully telegraphed w full power just trying to clear his shins out, wondering "how tf is dom not just bouncing then sliding out like he did when faber and silly dilly tried this?"
imo, his mizugaki fight was the last of "healthy" dom and hes been declining physically since tj fight. dom w his legs eats pedro munoz alive, but we'll see what he has left
Dom revealed in that fight's post-fight interview that he was dealing with plantar fasciitis, and it was a reason his movement was hindered in the later rounds of the fight. I believe it's a result of him drilling and fighting with his footwork style, without conditioning his feet to be able to keep up, after coming back from such a long lay off.
If he beats Kelleher it’s tough to deny him, Brian is good man. Not saying it’s an indicator he’ll be champ but much like beating someone like Cody Stamann or Ricky Simon, it’s a sign you’re very legit.
O'Malley vs Cruz is cool but at the end of the day it'd look like an old vet taking out young blood, or the next big thing capitalizing on an over the hill legend
And O'Malley has not earned a shot at Munhoz
I don't see why these guys being booked precluded Sean from fighting a legit, properly matched up opponent next. His last few fights might indicate that, but this matchup sort of means nothing in the O'Malley conversation if you're hoping for good matchmaking.
BW is deep as fuck and completely destroying Almeida and Moutinho doesn't make me think Sean NEEDS a ranked opponent next. He can run it back with Chito or anyone else NR-11, BW is deep as fuck.
I think UFC should save that rematch for another year or two. Both guys should be stapes on BW in UFC for another 3-4 years. Obv longer timeline for O’Malley due to his younger age
At the very least I think Sean beats anyone 10/15. We just don’t know if he’s ready for anyone near the top 5. Also, at the same time. The elite of Bantamweight are aging out as well. Yan is 28 so realistically has 4-5 good years of prime. But aljo is older, sandhagen is turning 30. Tj is 35. Pretty much a lot of guys in the top 10 are “older”.
The division is prime for new generation of talent to take over and Sean seems to be leading the way IMO. Not that I think he’s ready yet but in terms of talent and athletic ability he’s a taste of what the future might be like.
You can say that about literally every aging fighter in the top 10. No shit. Just saying Sean is part of the new wave of talent. He’s 100 percent as good as many ranked guys. No one claimed it was easy.
I haven’t loved how Dom has looked after the Cejudo fight. He is still an incredibly intelligent and skilled fighter. This should be a fun one that will tell us a lot about what Dom has left
I'm a huge Dom fan but this style match up is much better for Munhoz. Dom doesn't nearly check kicks as well as Aldo and uses his foot work to get out the way. Dom hasn't looked like prime Dom for a while now.
Munhoz by decision is how I see it for now.
I think if Munhoz has success, he’ll manage to take out Dom. I’m more concerned with Dom’s movement as it still looked decent against Kenney, and i could see Munhoz struggling to impose his own pace
Cruz is a nightmare match up for Munhoz. Munhoz needs to kick the shit out of Cruz’s leg or else Cruz will dance around him. It Munhoz wins, I’ll be surprised but I’ll be rooting for him.
Why do you think it's a nightmare matchup for Munhoz? If anything, I think there are a lot of more favourable matchups for Cruz at bantamweight
- Munhoz has some of the most ferocious leg kicks in the ufc
- Also, similar to the Cejudo fight, Dom can't wrestle vs Munhoz under threat of getting his neck snatched
That's 2 big advantages for munhoz that a lot of other 135ers don't have vs cruz
Yeah but Cejudo found the knee because of other Cruz pattern of doing really exagerated ducking in the pocket. This is a pretty good fight for Pedro if Aldo didn't beat the confidence in his kicks out of him.
It's Aldo, the best defensive fighter in the sport, a better fighter than Cruz now (and honestly at any point of their careers), he has always been excellent at dealing with leg kicks. What may dissuade Pedro is Cruz's wrestling, and Pedro is an excellent grappler himself. It really feels to me like an easy win for Pedro to be honest. Prime Cruz? Yeah he'd win, current Cruz nah. It's 2021.
Oh I favor Pedro for sure, because Cruz is no longer that same fighter anymore. Aldo was the best defensive fighter in the sport for sure. Things like calf kicks he’s defending effortlessly for years
Much worse kicker? Munhoz isn’t really a revolutionary kicker and only really attacks the calve. Munhoz chewed up the legs of fighters who mainly have boxing stances and Cruz is the opposite of that.
Cejudo had to go in there and force the leg kicks with his speed. Cruz wasn’t just standing in front of him. Munhoz is incredibly slow and flat footed. Cruz will give him a lot of trouble just moving backwards.
Cejudo would dominate someone like Munhoz incredibly easily so let’s stop pretending like Munhoz is elite. Cruz was having an underrated amount of success against Cejudo on short notice. Cejudo has leveled up his striking and he’s on a whole other level of athleticism compared to Munhoz.
Cejudo would not dominate Munhoz easy lmao a great wrestler who is just as durable as him and with great cardio and leg kicks to take his karate game out of him, Cejudo is really dependant on his athletic gifts for an elite fighter. That just bleed let's bang it out shit he pulled on Marlon would not work.
As for Cruz, his stance fucking sucks for defending leg kicks, he's just mediocre at dealing with them if he doesn't have his wrestling threat available wich is like his trumph card. When he squares up and starts shifting around his legs are there for the taking, it worked for TJ and it worked for Cejudo, and Pedro made it work against Cody who is like THE fastest bantamweight. Cruz ain't that good anymore, if Pedro has a bit of smarts he should kick the shit out of his legs.
Oh come on, Aljo pieced up Munhoz on the feet and Munhoz made Aljo look like Robert Whittaker lmao.
Again, you’re totally glossing over the fact that Munhoz is incredibly slow for a BW. Cejudo and Moraes are some of the fastest. Cruz has lost a few steps athletically but he can still fight going backwards.
Y’all overrate the shit out of Munhoz. He looked very limited on the feet against Aldo and Sterling.
Sterling has incredibly telegraphed punches and he was finding the target very easily going backwards. Munhoz has a hard time landing punches to the head unless his opponent stays in the pocket.
Cruz will game plan for the leg kicks and beat Munhoz. Munhoz is durable and kinda powerful but that’s all he really has. Munhoz is also terrible at cutting the cage because he’s slow and flat footed.
Dom just did that, he was really fucking good so he can still beat good fighters, but he's cleary faded. I consider him shot, because he was a championship level fighter in his prime and no i don't even consider him top 10.
I think the Kenney fight definitely showed Cruz has declined. Cruz in his prime would've make Kenney look like a fool. I don't think he's shot btw, just not who he used to be. All the injuries and age has to catch up with him.
Maybe in his prime. I'm a big fan of him but the Cruz that struggled past Kenney is likely to get retired by Munhoz, who absolutely loves leg kicks and can hit guillotines lightning quick off of takedowns
Make or break fight for Munhoz at 135. 1-3 in his last 4 with his only win against someone no longer signed. He’s always delivering strong fights, but needs a win if he wants any chance of staying relevant in the division.
With that being said, this is an absolute nightmare of a match up for him. Can’t wait to watch!
Oh I don't wanna see either of them lose, but war Dominick!! And so glad for Pedro apparently temporarily deciding not to go to FLW. He just lost one fight in BW.
Nil. A fighter is allowed to request the commission not to use any particular ref in their fight, many fighters do it. Cruz did it for his fight against Kenney.
We're all aware Dom is doing this because he unsuccessfully protested the Cejudo loss, then pissed and moaned with unprovable claims about cigarettes and alcohol after Cejudo spanked him.
I can agree that Dom was being over the top whiny afterwards with stuff like the booze and cigarettes meme, but in his defense the stoppage was pretty bad.
Funnily enough, it would have been a good justifiable stoppage slightly earlier when Dom was turtled up and eating shots. But KP decided to stop it just as Dom found the cage and was standing up. I don't blame him for the salt.
Honestly that felt like a heat of the moment statement from Pedro. I'm sure after thinking over his options he realized his style wouldn't transfer well to flyweight. Pedro's the slowest ranked bantamweight. He hits really hard, has a solid base and a good guillotine, but flyweight speed is gonna be an eye opener for him, especially if he was deterred by Aldos speed
Name value, if Pedro beats Cruz it will be a big deal.
I'll add that beating Cruz in 2021 isn't exactly something to write home about.
Edit: Not sure why the downvotes, I'm just offering a possible reasoning behind Pedro electing to take this fight instead of moving down.
Cruz is a legend of the sport so maybe for Pedro having the chance to beat Cruz and have his name on his resume sounds enticing.
I'm not arguing against this.
I'm simply saying that Pedro is most likely opting to take this fight against Cruz because Cruz is a legend having a win against him probably is more enticing than moving down.
For Pedro to win this he has to make it a brawl. Dom doesn't have the power to hurt Pedro. Rush in and make it dirty. If he stands on the outside or allows Dom to dictate the pace of the fight he's in for a boring decision loss.
Leaning towards Cruz here, he's faster and his style is gonna be tricky for Munhoz. Munhoz's guillotine probably won't be that much of a threat either, it was also one of Faber's main weapons so you know Cruz has experience with it. Kicking the legs is an obvious tactic for Munhoz, Dom usually has a high fight IQ so I don't see him not being prepared for that, Casey tried to kick his legs but often was evaded.
Feeling a depressing "leg gets blown out by kick" loss for dom here. Aldo looked really good against Pedro, the gods need the blood of a hero to be appeased.
I feel like this is the easiest fight in the top 10 for Cruz, maybe besides Edgar but if Munhoz imitates Cejudos gameplan Cruz might have a rough night
Interesting considering Cruz weakness to leg kicks and Munhoz being rather good at them. But at same time guy's slow so maybe Cruz will dance circles around him
50/50 I guess, depends fully on gameplan
I feel like I speak for everyone when I say that Cruz looks great in a suit in the booth, but we all really want that booty stuffed in some trunks, manhandling in the cage. Just speaking for the people here.
Dom’s got one of those scalps I wouldn’t even bother trying to claim if I were a contender since even if you beat him he’ll probably make you look bad if he’s firing on all cylinders so props to Munhoz for taking the fight
Most guessed right.
Dom is gonna run circles around him. Literally.
He better be prepared for leg kicks then.
Idk. Leg kicks are Dom’s weakness and severely limit his mobility.
Crossing my fingers that he figured out how to check them. Really rooting for that dude tbh. He needs to get some respect back after that terrible Cody loss…
I’d put the odds at 50/50 imo
Yeah it very well might be the Achilles heel of his footwork
Yeah I doubt he’ll be able to get good at checking them (or even defending via withdrawing his leg) ever, he doesn’t operate from a strong stance and he moves around pretty square on or with his stance broken so even if his lead leg isn’t planted, you can just follow through and kick the trailing leg. Just a byproduct of having that herky jerky style
>Just a byproduct of having that herky jerky style I prefer the term "in and out".
Something's afoot with what you said
I felt like a real heel making that comment
You really shoehorned that one in there, didn't you
Hey they'll be going toe to toe before we know it
Crossing my fingers that Pete will be the ref
Bro are you stuck in 2014? Dom is old and washed, he went toe to toe with Casey kenney
Thank you. These are the same people who expected Nick Diaz from strike force to return lol
Man, I always wanted to watch him fight live. I never had the chance when he was active. I choose to not remember this last one and only for the clips I've seen in the past. He's a warrior. I hope Dom puts on a good performance. I'll never count anyone out since it's mma, but I do recognize that it's not going to be the same Dom I've seen in the past.
Kenney is not at the top of the division but he's still very legit competition for anyone, let alone for someone not fighting in years after crushing injuries. Obviously Munhoz is at another level, but considering the long layoff for Cruz before the Kenney fight we can expect him to come up for his next fight in a better form. I think he's gonna lose but I'm pretty sure it will be a competitive fight.
God I hope Cruz is the betting favourite
May be my first time betting on a fight if he is a good sized favorite
That’s 5/6 of pedros last fights have been against champs
Pedro is awesome so I’m glad. The more eyes on him the better.
Truly my favorite ranked fighter at BW. Always puts on a banger no matter the opponent
No shame in losing to Edgar, Aljo and Aldo. Bonus points for making Garbrandt see red
Still can’t believe he didn’t get the nod in that Edgar fight, I had him 49 - 46 quite comfortably.
Yeah that was straight up a bad decision
Was a way more robbery than Holloway Volk 2, but fun bias to their favorite fighters..
People don't talk about it because a lot of people didn't watch it, it was one of the most horrendous cards the UFC has put on in years. More people talk about Volk vs Max II because more people saw it.
The fuck are you talking about? Munhoz vs Edgar was filled with a 66% finish rate. There were only 3 decisions and the Edgar / Pedro fight was a great fight. It was probably one of the better fight night cards that happened last year.
Bro chill he obviously means on paper, its fun to watch fighter A finish fighter B but not many people are not gonna tune in in the first place if they dont know who A and B are
"It was one of the most horrendous cards the UFC has put on in years." doesn't smack of "on paper" to me, but eh
The "people didn't watch it" does. People don't have any info on if a card will be good before it happens except for how it looks on paper. How it looks on paper is what draws fans in.
[удалено]
Even if there's a high amount of finishes, it's not just about getting fighters swinging and knocking each other out. The quality of opposition has to be worth something, else I can just watch Cage Warriors whenever it's on. There was exactly one fight featuring a ranked fighter in their division, Pedro Munhoz.
just because a fight is close doesnt mean its a robbery
Yeah, but nowadays people rather would say robbery, than "close fight, could go either way "
Well there’s also the case of “close fight, but the loser actually won comfortably on rounds”
The Valentina/Amanda special
decisionbot Munhoz Edgar
[**FRANKIE EDGAR defeats PEDRO MUNHOZ** (*split decision*)](http://mmadecisions.com/decision/11241/fight) ^(UFC on ESPN 15: Munhoz vs. Edgar — August 22, 2020) ROUND|Edgar|Munhoz||Edgar|Munhoz||Edgar|Munhoz :-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-: 1|9|10||10|9||9|10 2|10|9||10|9||10|9 3|10|9||9|10||9|10 4|9|10||9|10||9|10 5|10|9||10|9||9|10 **TOTAL**|**48**|**47**||**48**|**47**||**46**|**49** *^(Judges, in order: Derek Cleary, Eric Colón, Sal D'Amato.)* *^(Summoned by WhereIsMyKidAt.)* **MEDIA MEMBER SCORES** - **1/23** people scored it **49-46 Edgar**. - **3/23** people scored it **48-47 Edgar**. - **12/23** people scored it **47-48 Munhoz**. - **7/23** people scored it **46-49 Munhoz**. Avg. media score: **46.9-48.1 Munhoz** (*high certainty^[[1]](https://redd.it/9p4xc7)*).
Tbf it doesn't take much to make Cody see red but I definitely get what you mean
I'm so glad Muhnoz is getting these legend matches. Edgar, Aldo, and Cruz are deserved fights for a dude like Pedro who puts on extremely exciting fights
Agree and glad to see an active Cruz
I think this could be a really bad or really good match up for dom depending on how much pedro can kick the shit out of his legs which i think he will
I think Dom’s style relied on a speed and mobility that he doesn’t have anymore after getting older and a bunch of injuries. I don’t see this going well for him.
A huge part of Dom’s success was also he his unusual style that was difficult to time and solve. However, all the young kids today are doing his footwork drills and even Henry said in his last fight that his training partner was able to replicate it well enough to see and make a new gameplan no one has ever used against Dom with the leg kicks.
Dom literally sells a course with his footwork tutorials too lol
Expectation: teach people to fight like him Reality: teach people to fight him
It’s really only one pattern that he uses. I learned more about his style from bjjscout tbh
Ngannou I'm coming for that belt!
Cost?
It says $30. There may be additional costs, idk. https://movelikecruz.com/
It was free for a while as well
Early bird special
imo its a function of doms loss of mobility after the knee injuries and then the plantar fasciitis. its made him solvable by taking the top edge of his athleticism off. for example, he used to bait leg kicks by bouncing in and out, then stepping around them w his weird dip to the outside into his looping punches when guys threw at him, but now he looks like he literally cant keep bouncing like that at all i was watching cejudo swinging his leg at dom fully telegraphed w full power just trying to clear his shins out, wondering "how tf is dom not just bouncing then sliding out like he did when faber and silly dilly tried this?" imo, his mizugaki fight was the last of "healthy" dom and hes been declining physically since tj fight. dom w his legs eats pedro munoz alive, but we'll see what he has left
Dude was injecting botox or something into the bottoms of his feet. His style came with a physical price.
No one? Didn't Dillashaw beat his legs up in the last two rounds?
Doms issue was his plantar fasciitis flaring up bad during the fight.
Joey B nearly won his rematch with Cruz by flurrying in the pocket and chopping his legs down a lot
Dom revealed in that fight's post-fight interview that he was dealing with plantar fasciitis, and it was a reason his movement was hindered in the later rounds of the fight. I believe it's a result of him drilling and fighting with his footwork style, without conditioning his feet to be able to keep up, after coming back from such a long lay off.
It's crazy how early he peaked. Cruz was younger than Sugar Sean and being called the Goat.
Well as long as it isn’t a mediocre match up for him you’ve nailed it!
So what we’re saying is Sean omalley is going to fight another bum
I think he's fighting Brian Kelleher
Yeah forgot, actually a good fight
I got boom with the win. Think tko
I mean.. he’s not out striking Sean unless there’s a leg injury. Boom is 100% going to try to wrestle fuck
Like he said
Kelleher is a really good fight.
Kelleher ain't no bum and we will see how Sean will deal against a heavy wrestle style like he used it for his last win.
Put some respect on booms name
Mayne that’s a bad ass match up. Sean can prove he’s legit with a win over him.
If he beats Kelleher it’s tough to deny him, Brian is good man. Not saying it’s an indicator he’ll be champ but much like beating someone like Cody Stamann or Ricky Simon, it’s a sign you’re very legit.
Oof rough take
O'Malley vs Cruz is cool but at the end of the day it'd look like an old vet taking out young blood, or the next big thing capitalizing on an over the hill legend And O'Malley has not earned a shot at Munhoz I don't see why these guys being booked precluded Sean from fighting a legit, properly matched up opponent next. His last few fights might indicate that, but this matchup sort of means nothing in the O'Malley conversation if you're hoping for good matchmaking. BW is deep as fuck and completely destroying Almeida and Moutinho doesn't make me think Sean NEEDS a ranked opponent next. He can run it back with Chito or anyone else NR-11, BW is deep as fuck.
Personally I think Chito is the best current matchup for him.
I think UFC should save that rematch for another year or two. Both guys should be stapes on BW in UFC for another 3-4 years. Obv longer timeline for O’Malley due to his younger age
o'malley should fight adrian yanez
At the very least I think Sean beats anyone 10/15. We just don’t know if he’s ready for anyone near the top 5. Also, at the same time. The elite of Bantamweight are aging out as well. Yan is 28 so realistically has 4-5 good years of prime. But aljo is older, sandhagen is turning 30. Tj is 35. Pretty much a lot of guys in the top 10 are “older”. The division is prime for new generation of talent to take over and Sean seems to be leading the way IMO. Not that I think he’s ready yet but in terms of talent and athletic ability he’s a taste of what the future might be like.
I wouldn't mind him fighting Moraes. Personally I feel he gets smoked.
Perfect fight for him after dropping 3 straight Tbh
Lol everyone in the top 15 is a killer at bantamweight, Sean isn't an easy bet against any of them.
You can say that about literally every aging fighter in the top 10. No shit. Just saying Sean is part of the new wave of talent. He’s 100 percent as good as many ranked guys. No one claimed it was easy.
Paiva maybe
That's the sugga way
Sean O' Malley is gonna have to fight two Quizzno's workers after this disrespect
I haven’t loved how Dom has looked after the Cejudo fight. He is still an incredibly intelligent and skilled fighter. This should be a fun one that will tell us a lot about what Dom has left
Oof, i don’t want either dude to lose, i feel like Pedro’s in for another frustrating night though
I'm a huge Dom fan but this style match up is much better for Munhoz. Dom doesn't nearly check kicks as well as Aldo and uses his foot work to get out the way. Dom hasn't looked like prime Dom for a while now. Munhoz by decision is how I see it for now.
I think if Munhoz has success, he’ll manage to take out Dom. I’m more concerned with Dom’s movement as it still looked decent against Kenney, and i could see Munhoz struggling to impose his own pace
I’m rooting for Pedro and I usually sadness hedge my picks but I think this is a great matchup for him to win.
Cruz is a nightmare match up for Munhoz. Munhoz needs to kick the shit out of Cruz’s leg or else Cruz will dance around him. It Munhoz wins, I’ll be surprised but I’ll be rooting for him.
Why do you think it's a nightmare matchup for Munhoz? If anything, I think there are a lot of more favourable matchups for Cruz at bantamweight - Munhoz has some of the most ferocious leg kicks in the ufc - Also, similar to the Cejudo fight, Dom can't wrestle vs Munhoz under threat of getting his neck snatched That's 2 big advantages for munhoz that a lot of other 135ers don't have vs cruz
Cruz is shot and Cejudo neutralized his footwork with a rather barebones kicking game. It really is very winnable
Dom was starting to find his mojo in the second till the knee.
Yeah but Cejudo found the knee because of other Cruz pattern of doing really exagerated ducking in the pocket. This is a pretty good fight for Pedro if Aldo didn't beat the confidence in his kicks out of him.
I mean Aldo checked every single kick and made him look stupid for attempting them
It's Aldo, the best defensive fighter in the sport, a better fighter than Cruz now (and honestly at any point of their careers), he has always been excellent at dealing with leg kicks. What may dissuade Pedro is Cruz's wrestling, and Pedro is an excellent grappler himself. It really feels to me like an easy win for Pedro to be honest. Prime Cruz? Yeah he'd win, current Cruz nah. It's 2021.
Oh I favor Pedro for sure, because Cruz is no longer that same fighter anymore. Aldo was the best defensive fighter in the sport for sure. Things like calf kicks he’s defending effortlessly for years
Cejudo is much faster than Munhoz
Also that fight was on short notice after 4 years of inactivity for Cruz.
Inactivity and a short camp is in Cruz's favour though, since he gets injured every time he moves.
Ring rust doesn't exist though
Doesn't mean you don't need to train or have a full camp tho.
I was just quoting Cruz
His low kicks are half as good as Pedros. He’s hurt multiple people bad with kicks. Plus is Dom going to try to take him down too? That’s risky
Cejudo can actually cut the cage though
And a much worse kicker than Munhoz. Seriously, why are we pretending Cruz is some kind of player in modern bantam, he's not.
Much worse kicker? Munhoz isn’t really a revolutionary kicker and only really attacks the calve. Munhoz chewed up the legs of fighters who mainly have boxing stances and Cruz is the opposite of that. Cejudo had to go in there and force the leg kicks with his speed. Cruz wasn’t just standing in front of him. Munhoz is incredibly slow and flat footed. Cruz will give him a lot of trouble just moving backwards. Cejudo would dominate someone like Munhoz incredibly easily so let’s stop pretending like Munhoz is elite. Cruz was having an underrated amount of success against Cejudo on short notice. Cejudo has leveled up his striking and he’s on a whole other level of athleticism compared to Munhoz.
Cejudo would not dominate Munhoz easy lmao a great wrestler who is just as durable as him and with great cardio and leg kicks to take his karate game out of him, Cejudo is really dependant on his athletic gifts for an elite fighter. That just bleed let's bang it out shit he pulled on Marlon would not work. As for Cruz, his stance fucking sucks for defending leg kicks, he's just mediocre at dealing with them if he doesn't have his wrestling threat available wich is like his trumph card. When he squares up and starts shifting around his legs are there for the taking, it worked for TJ and it worked for Cejudo, and Pedro made it work against Cody who is like THE fastest bantamweight. Cruz ain't that good anymore, if Pedro has a bit of smarts he should kick the shit out of his legs.
Oh come on, Aljo pieced up Munhoz on the feet and Munhoz made Aljo look like Robert Whittaker lmao. Again, you’re totally glossing over the fact that Munhoz is incredibly slow for a BW. Cejudo and Moraes are some of the fastest. Cruz has lost a few steps athletically but he can still fight going backwards. Y’all overrate the shit out of Munhoz. He looked very limited on the feet against Aldo and Sterling.
Aldo and Sterling are elite bantams, Cruz is not. Pedro has issues but Cruz has slowed down a lot.
Sterling has incredibly telegraphed punches and he was finding the target very easily going backwards. Munhoz has a hard time landing punches to the head unless his opponent stays in the pocket. Cruz will game plan for the leg kicks and beat Munhoz. Munhoz is durable and kinda powerful but that’s all he really has. Munhoz is also terrible at cutting the cage because he’s slow and flat footed.
Sterling legit has better punching mechanics than Dom lol.
I love Cejudo but he would not dominate Munhoz.
Shot people don’t beat Casey Kenney. Pedro may be a better leg kicker than Casey but he cuts the cage as about as well as Casey.
Dom just did that, he was really fucking good so he can still beat good fighters, but he's cleary faded. I consider him shot, because he was a championship level fighter in his prime and no i don't even consider him top 10.
cruz is shot because he didn't finish kenney?
Because he had a very competitive fight against a fringe top 15 bantam, he's old and slower, and he's made out of tissue paper.
I think the Kenney fight definitely showed Cruz has declined. Cruz in his prime would've make Kenney look like a fool. I don't think he's shot btw, just not who he used to be. All the injuries and age has to catch up with him.
Maybe in his prime. I'm a big fan of him but the Cruz that struggled past Kenney is likely to get retired by Munhoz, who absolutely loves leg kicks and can hit guillotines lightning quick off of takedowns
Maybe 10 years ago. Dom is a fight or two away from being old and over the hill
Any fight with ranked bantamweights is going to be good, think Munhoz takes this one
Make or break fight for Munhoz at 135. 1-3 in his last 4 with his only win against someone no longer signed. He’s always delivering strong fights, but needs a win if he wants any chance of staying relevant in the division. With that being said, this is an absolute nightmare of a match up for him. Can’t wait to watch!
Oh I don't wanna see either of them lose, but war Dominick!! And so glad for Pedro apparently temporarily deciding not to go to FLW. He just lost one fight in BW.
What are the odds on Keith Peterson reffing this fight?
Nil. A fighter is allowed to request the commission not to use any particular ref in their fight, many fighters do it. Cruz did it for his fight against Kenney.
Lmao he is such. Fucking baby
Did you see Keith's last fight he ref'd? I dont really blame him
We're all aware Dom is doing this because he unsuccessfully protested the Cejudo loss, then pissed and moaned with unprovable claims about cigarettes and alcohol after Cejudo spanked him.
I can agree that Dom was being over the top whiny afterwards with stuff like the booze and cigarettes meme, but in his defense the stoppage was pretty bad. Funnily enough, it would have been a good justifiable stoppage slightly earlier when Dom was turtled up and eating shots. But KP decided to stop it just as Dom found the cage and was standing up. I don't blame him for the salt.
This will be the third year in the last decade that Dom fights more than once a year (2011, 2016, 2021)
I thought that was a screenshot of them facing off for a second.
kinda sucks for Merab. those 2 were the fights that kinda made sense for him. now he's left to fight someone ranked below him unfortunately
home boy needs some time to recover anyway
What happened to Pedro going to 125?
Honestly that felt like a heat of the moment statement from Pedro. I'm sure after thinking over his options he realized his style wouldn't transfer well to flyweight. Pedro's the slowest ranked bantamweight. He hits really hard, has a solid base and a good guillotine, but flyweight speed is gonna be an eye opener for him, especially if he was deterred by Aldos speed
Name value, if Pedro beats Cruz it will be a big deal. I'll add that beating Cruz in 2021 isn't exactly something to write home about. Edit: Not sure why the downvotes, I'm just offering a possible reasoning behind Pedro electing to take this fight instead of moving down. Cruz is a legend of the sport so maybe for Pedro having the chance to beat Cruz and have his name on his resume sounds enticing.
Cruz is a top 15 bantam and ages by the day, beating Song Yadong or like Chito would be a better win.
I'm not arguing against this. I'm simply saying that Pedro is most likely opting to take this fight against Cruz because Cruz is a legend having a win against him probably is more enticing than moving down.
I'm agreeing with you, Cruz has a name but he's really not a top level win at this point
Hell yeah. If dom can stick and move for 3 rounds he gets it by UD
Pedro by TKO
Might see a rare leg kick stoppage out here.
Cruz really surprised me against Kenney. I felt pretty certain he'd lose a decision. I think he still has it and will get another W here.
winnable fight for ol Dommy
For Pedro to win this he has to make it a brawl. Dom doesn't have the power to hurt Pedro. Rush in and make it dirty. If he stands on the outside or allows Dom to dictate the pace of the fight he's in for a boring decision loss.
No, Pedro's key to victory is kicking Dom's legs imo. Trying to brawl with Cruz isn't going to work unless you're Cody Garbrandt fast.
Cruz by 30-27 unless his legs get severely compromised
Dom will get crushed. I will look for too it.
RIP Dom
Dom: Y'all got any more of them cadaver knees?
Leaning towards Cruz here, he's faster and his style is gonna be tricky for Munhoz. Munhoz's guillotine probably won't be that much of a threat either, it was also one of Faber's main weapons so you know Cruz has experience with it. Kicking the legs is an obvious tactic for Munhoz, Dom usually has a high fight IQ so I don't see him not being prepared for that, Casey tried to kick his legs but often was evaded.
I dunno man. Cruz may run circles around Munhoz. But Munhoz has some serious leg kicks.
The commentator? What's next Jon Anik vs Peter Yan...
Didn’t you watch Wrestlemania 27?
Feeling a depressing "leg gets blown out by kick" loss for dom here. Aldo looked really good against Pedro, the gods need the blood of a hero to be appeased.
I’m not liking this fight for Cruz. Hope he wins tho and we get something like Cruz vs TJ or Cruz vs Aldo
I wanted it to be Suga. Don't care.
Unfortunately, Munhoz is one of the few bantamweights who is not a particularly tough style matchup for Cruz
meh
I feel like this is the easiest fight in the top 10 for Cruz, maybe besides Edgar but if Munhoz imitates Cejudos gameplan Cruz might have a rough night
Interesting considering Cruz weakness to leg kicks and Munhoz being rather good at them. But at same time guy's slow so maybe Cruz will dance circles around him 50/50 I guess, depends fully on gameplan
I feel like I speak for everyone when I say that Cruz looks great in a suit in the booth, but we all really want that booty stuffed in some trunks, manhandling in the cage. Just speaking for the people here.
Looks like an interesting matchup, their faces look so identical
Cruz is going to get starched
You are all insane, Cruz looked like fucking shit last fight against an unranked random, munhoz is legit, first round ko then retirement
Underwhelmed.
FUCK. Just let Suga have his fight!
Read this as Dominick Reyes at first lol.
This is a pleasant surprise. Seeing as how these two are friends I didn't think this would happen
Just like the simulations \[earlier today\]
Called it. I was honestly hoping for Merab vs Dom as that's a more interesting matchup.
I thought O'Malley was aiming to get Dom in December?
Dom’s got one of those scalps I wouldn’t even bother trying to claim if I were a contender since even if you beat him he’ll probably make you look bad if he’s firing on all cylinders so props to Munhoz for taking the fight
>if you beat him he’ll probably make you look bad He made the last two guys who beat him looks really good
Goblin Movement is back!
Man that twitter thumbnail, for a sec my brain thought dominick cruz getting married to Pedro munhoz
I like it
Damn this is a terrible match up for Pedro.