5 Things You Might Not Know About Pedro Munhoz

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 265 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

Advertisement

Pedro Munhoz has mixed martial arts royalty in his crosshairs.

The American Top Team standout will toe the line against former Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Extreme Cagefighting bantamweight titleholder Jose Aldo in the UFC 265 co-headliner this Saturday at the Toyota Center in Houston. Munhoz, 34, has rattled off eight victories across his last 11 appearances. He last competed at UFC Fight Night 186 on Feb. 27, when he took a unanimous decision from Jimmie Rivera and avenged a 2015 defeat to the onetime King of the Cage, Ring of Combat and Cage Fury Fighting Championships titlist.

As Munhoz makes final preparations for his battle with Aldo, here are five things you might not know about him:

1. He climbs mountains.

Munhoz struck gold in the Resurrection Fighting Alliance organization on Aug. 16, 2013, when he laid claim to its bantamweight championship with a five-round split decision over WEC veteran Jeff Curran. Munhoz retained the title five months later with a 41-second submission of Billy Daniels, then signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

2. He was an immediate success in MMA.

“The Young Punisher” won his first 10 professional fights and emerged as one of the sport’s top prospects at 135 pounds before dropping a unanimous decision to Raphael Assuncao in his Octagon debut at UFC 170 on Feb. 22, 2014.

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 265 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

3. No one has managed to break him.

All five of the notoriously durable Munhoz’s losses have come by decision, three of them split verdicts. The five men who have defeated him—Assuncao, Rivera, John Dodson, Aljamain Sterling and Frankie Edgar—own a combined record of 115-37-1.

4. Violence has been quite the side hustle.

Munhoz has delivered 13 of his 19 career victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission, eight of them inside one round. His crowd-pleasing style has led to six post-fight bonuses in his 15 appearances under the UFC banner. Munhoz has been awarded three “Performance of the Night” bonuses and three “Fight of the Night” bonuses, resulting in $300,000 of additional income.

5. He does not shy away from firefights.

The Sao Paulo, Brazil, native has landed at least 90 significant strikes in four of his past six outings. Munhoz connected with 94 of them against Rivera in their UFC Fight Night 186 rematch, 166 of them against Edgar in their UFC on ESPN 15 main event, 105 of them against Sterling in their UFC 238 prelim and 117 of them against Brett Johns in their UFC 227 prelim. The only fights in which he failed to do so saw him knock out Cody Garbrandt and Bryan Caraway in the first round.