Tag: Pedro Munhoz

[autotag]Pedro Munhoz[/autotag] has had some time for his loss to [autotag]Frankie Edgar[/autotag] to marinate, and he’s not happy with the taste.

Munhoz (18-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) lost a split decision to Edgar (24-8-1 MMA, 18-8-1 UFC) this past Saturday in the UFC on ESPN 15 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Edgar’s two winning scorecards gave him 48-47 totals. The dissenting third judge in Munhoz’s favor had the fight 49-46.

The fight was Edgar’s debut in the bantamweight division after several years at featherweight, a division in which he fought for a title, and years before that at lightweight, where he was a UFC champion. Edgar almost certainly is a future UFC Hall of Famer, but Munhoz on Monday said on Instagram his legendary status shouldn’t matter – and said he wants a rematch from UFC president Dana White.

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“I’ve always done my talking in the octagon but this needs to be said,” Munhoz posted. “I work too hard to get screwed by poor judges who have no training and even less accountability. Look at the stats and the damage. Look at the 17 of 20 media sites who agreed I won, 7 of which had it 49-46. Tell me how the deciding judge gave round 3 to Frankie. He’s a legend, but I won that fight and want a rematch now @danawhite”

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I’ve always done my talking in the octagon but this needs to be said. I work too hard to get screwed by poor judges who have no training and even less accountability. Look at the stats and the damage. Look at the 17 of 20 media sites who agreed I won, 7 of which had it 49-46. Tell me how the deciding judge gave round 3 to Frankie. He’s a legend, but I won that fight and want a rematch now @danawhite 🇧🇷 Sempre falei dentro octagon, nas minhas atitudes, mas isso precisa ser dito. Eu trabalho muito para ser prejudicado por juízes ruins que não têm treinamento e ainda menos responsabilidade. Veja as estatísticas e os danos. Veja os 17 dos 20 sites de mídia que concordaram que eu ganhei, 7 dos quais tinham 49-46. Diga-me como o juiz decidiu ter dado o terceiro round para o Frankie. Ele é uma lenda, mas ganhei essa luta e quero uma revanche agora @ufc

A post shared by Pedro Munhoz (@pedromunhozmma) on Aug 24, 2020 at 8:29am PDT

Of the sites tracked by MMADecisions.com, seven had Munhoz winning 49-46 and 12 had him winning 48-47. Three sites gave the bout to Edgar at 48-47 and one gave it to him at 49-46.

The five-round bout won “Fight of the Night” honors, and Edgar was transported to the hospital after his win. Munhoz attended the post-event news conference, but he was bloodied up by Edgar in the fight.

The UFC’s official stats for the fight have Munhoz winning the overall striking battle 166-135. Edgar landed the fight’s only pair of takedowns. Leg strikes were the name of the game for Munhoz, who landed 44 of them – most to Edgar’s lead leg.

After wins in seven of eight fights, Munhoz now is on the first skid of his career with consecutive losses to Edgar and Aljamain Sterling. During his solid run of almost three years, his lone loss was a split call to former flyweight title challenger John Dodson, and his wins including a first-round knockout of former champion Cody Garbrandt in March 2019. Three of his five career losses have been split decisions, and he never has been finished.

Edgar needed a turnaround after losses in three of his past four featherweight fights. The setbacks came to Max Holloway in a title fight and former title challengers Brian Ortega and Chan Sung Jung. But in a new weight class, and with a win under his belt out of the gate, Edgar talked after the fight about wanting to get into title contention in his new division.

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[autotag]Frankie Edgar[/autotag] is turning toward the bantamweight title after winning his divisional debut against [autotag]Pedro Munhoz[/autotag] at UFC on ESPN 15.

Edgar (24-8-1 MMA, 18-8-1 UFC), the former UFC lightweight champion, made a successful drop down to 135 pounds from featherweight and edged out a split decision win over Munhoz (18-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) in their headlining bout, which took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and aired on ESPN.

It was a huge moment for Edgar, who turns 39 in October and had seemingly hit a dead end at 145 pounds in terms of title contention. He had to go through a grueling five-round fight on Saturday, but he got his hand raised and thought it was a message to those wondering if his prime is over.

“It’s good to be on the winning side,” Edgar said in his UFC on ESPN 15 post-fight interview with Jon Anik. “That was a hell of a fight. Pedro’s a stud. I heard a lot of MFers barking that I’m old, I’m slow. I definitely should’ve proved them all wrong. I still got some fight in this tank, baby, and we’re going to make a run at ’35.”

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Edgar further entrenched himself in the UFC record books with his performance against Munhoz. Not only did he become the 11th fighter in company history to earn wins in three weight classes, but he became the first to earn “Fight of the Night” honors in three separate divisions.

Although some, including Munhoz, believe the decision should have gone the other way, Edgar was confident in his triumphant moment.

“He’s the No. 5, and that might put me in the top five in three weight classes,” Edgar said. “I’m showing I can compete with the best at 38 years old. I don’t want to hear nothing from anybody.”

The move down to bantamweight has been a long time coming for Edgar. He was first scheduled for it in January, but it has been delayed multiple times since. There’s been constant speculation since the UFC added the bantamweight class of how Edgar would do against fighters more equal to his physical stature.

After spending 25 minutes in the octagon with an established member of the division, Edgar said he sees the drop in weight as the answer to newfound success.

“(I felt) better than I was at the other weights,” Edgar said. “I didn’t carry any of the weight. … I just got my feet wet. I think the sky’s the limit for myself. I didn’t look slow in there. Pedro’s a top dog, and that makes me a top dog, baby. We back.”

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