Bantamweights
Pedro Munhoz (16-3) vs. Bryan Caraway (21-8)Advertisement
Thanks to some tough matchmaking and a drug suspension, the first two-plus years of Munhoz’s UFC career were mostly a wash, but he has since overcome that slow start to become a perennial Top-15 bantamweight. Munhoz’s style is a variant of one that is becoming increasingly en vogue, relying on the finish rather than any sort of round-winning process. However, unlike Brian Ortega or Yoel Romero, who are more dependent on taking their time and feeling out their opponents, Munhoz makes the finish happen by applying constant pressure. Munhoz constantly moves forward, relying on his durability to try and force his opponent into making a mistake. From there, he can typically take advantage, particularly with one of the best guillotine chokes in the sport. There is a clear ceiling to how Munhoz works, particularly against quicker fighters in the division who can stick and move, but he is effective enough to have a successful career and could make it to contender status if everything breaks right.
Munhoz takes on Caraway, who remains as oddly polarizing as ever. For every anecdote about Caraway being a nice guy, there are incidents like his elbowing Cat Zingano backstage or fish-hooking Erik Perez, not to mention all the strangeness people have with his now-dissolved relationship with Miesha Tate. As far as inside the cage goes, Caraway’s slick submission game is the best part of his skill set, and he sets that up nicely with some solid pressure striking to lead him into the clinch and into takedowns. Despite having a surprising amount of success, Caraway’s career is a bit adrift at the moment. A 2016 win over Aljamain Sterling looked like it would turn Caraway into a contender, but instead, he followed it with two years of inactivity and a narrow loss to Cody Stamann. Thankfully, he gets a big opportunity to get his career back on track here. With that said, a loss would be damaging, making this quite the crucial fight.
Frankly, much like Brett Johns before him, it is unclear what Caraway has to offer Munhoz. The former Resurrection Fighting Alliance champion’s own venomous grappling skills figure to shut down the best part of Caraway’s game; and without being able to take things to the mat, Caraway is left matching pressure for pressure against a much better and more aggressive athlete. Caraway should stay competitive enough to make this fun, but as far as the overall momentum of fight, this looks to be all one-way traffic in favor of Munhoz. The pick is Munhoz via decision.
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