Pedro Munhoz can’t understand why Dominick Cruz is still in the UFC bantamweight rankings.
After dropping back-to-back bouts against Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera and Kyler Phillips in his last two outings, ‘The Young Punisher’ will look to climb back into the win column on Saturday, November 2 when the UFC heads back to The Great White North for a loaded Fight Night card in Edmonton.
There, Munhoz will meet streaking 36-year-old Aiemann Zahabi in a fight that could help launch one of them into the 135-pound rankings.
Ahead of his return to the Octagon next month, Munhoz spoke with James Lynch in a MiddleEasy exclusive interview to discuss his next opponent and what he expects out of the 11-2 fighter out of Laval, Quebec.
“He has a unique style,” Munhoz said. “He likes to do a lot of footwork. He likes to move side-to-side, he waits a little bit. He doesn’t like to take much initiative. He’s more of a counterfighter, but well-rounded—a black belt in jiu-jitsu. My coaches watch more of the fights. I just try to focus on the stuff that I do and get some advice from my coaches to change technique, but the little bit that I saw, [he has] good wrestling defense. Not much that I haven’t seen before or haven’t faced before.”
After a couple of tough losses, Munhoz is fighting to try and get back into the bantamweight top 15. However, there is one man currently sitting in the No. 14 spot that he feels shouldn’t even be there.
That just so happens to be two-time division champion Dominick Cruz.
Despite having lost three of his last five fights and not competing in more than two years, ‘The Dominator’ is still holding onto a ranking—something Munhoz says is “bullsh*t.”
“Yeah, that’s a little bit bullsh*t, the ranking situation. Right after my fight with Kyler Phillips, I think I was ranked number 12. Then I fought him and moved to 13, 14, 15, and eventually out of the rankings, but I’ve kept active all this time. Good for [Cruz], but that kind of stuff just shows me that it’s a bunch of bullsh*t. I don’t know who runs that, but it’s just bullsh*t. ”
He continued, “I’ve thought about those things before. Like, why are these guys in the rankings? Why are these guys not so active? This guy here I beat, he’s in the rankings and I’m not, but there’s nothing I can do about it. I’m very glad that the UFC wanted to keep me. Wanted to keep re-signing me and give me fights. It’s something that I like to do. Something I love to do.”
Pedro Munhoz Comments on Scorecard Controversy at UFC 307
Munhoz was also asked for his take on Saturday’s bantamweight scrap between Jose Aldo and Mario Bautista. It was one of the many controversial scorecards in Salt Lake City as Bautista secured a split decision after holding Aldo against the fence for the majority of the 15-minute affair without advancing his position or offering any real offense.
“I saw it the next day,” Munhoz replied when asked his thoughts on the fight. “Just highlights of the whole event because it’s hard for me to sit down nowadays with my kids. On a Saturday after training sometimes two to three times a day. Saturday morning was a long day of training so I chill on Saturday nights. Before I used to watch all the UFC, but in the last few years of my life, I don’t watch the fights live anymore. Boxing, UFC, Bellator—none of that. I watch it the next day.
“I didn’t see the whole fight, but I saw comments and a little bit of the play-by-play, I was reading that too. What I could get from there is that Mario won the first round, but there was critique in the second and the third. They say Mario was just holding him against the fence, but not being effective at all. That’s as much as I heard about it.”
"He didn't get off the cage. That's not my problem." 🍿
Mario Bautista on defeating the legendary José Aldo by split-decision at #UFC307. 👏 pic.twitter.com/fcqsh7mEKH
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 6, 2024
Pedro Munhoz likened Bautista’s strategy to Merab Dvalishvili’s when he took the bantamweight title off Sean O’Malley last month in Las Vegas.
“That one I also watched the highlights and that’s the conclusion that I got. I think Mario used Merab’s strategy,” he added.
Watch the full exclusive interview below:
