Pedro Munhoz: Electric Eel
Photo credit : Jeff Bottari / UFC / ZUFFA
The UFC bantamweight division has been amazing and full of killers for almost a decade. Although the creation of the division happened because of the popularity of legends like Urijah Faber and Dominick Cruz, it’s fair to say that ten years later, the skill level of the top 15 has blown away all expectations. The division is so highly contested it has never had a long reigning champion. For years I thought TJ Dillashaw would keep the belt for a long time, but he “lost” that split decision to Dominick Cruz.
Now in 2020, guys like Cruz and Dillashaw seem far away from a title shot. The future of Cruz’s career is uncertain, while TJ Dillashaw will have to make a big return in 2021 (after a 2 year suspension). It would be foolish to doubt the competitive mindset of the former champion, I just doubt that he’ll come back as good as he used to be.
But that is not the subject of this article. Just like in this introduction, our subject has long been drowned out behind the most famous names in the division.
In this dangerous ocean that is the 135 pound division, full of fast and dangerous animals, survives a lesser-known fish. It’s a little slower, it does not often have the chance to swim in the most popular and clean waters. Despite its worth of fear and respect, no one is shunned like the electric eel.
Many noticed him when he shocked the former world champion in 2019, but since then he has been sent back to the deep marshes for the benefit of others who have been able to better showcase themselves.
After a long wandering in these swamps, which are avoided by many, the eel has finally found someone with the guts to answer it.
Saturday night, Pedro Munhoz has a new chance to remind everybody that he’s a man to be reckoned with if he destroys the former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar.
That's why before his first main event in the UFC, I wanted to showcase the damage this eel has caused in the various swamps, creeks and rivers that it has traversed.
If you’re interested, you can also find this thirty minute interview I had with Pedro in May 2020.
THE SWAMPS OF RFA
After years of practicing no-gi jiu jitsu (two-time Brazilian champion) and kickboxing, Pedro showed interest in MMA. Finally, at 22 years old he made his pro MMA debut in his hometown of Sao Paulo. One year later, he made his debut at Jungle Fight 18, as the Brazilian promotion held a show in Sao Paulo. He won via unanimous decision. Ironically, Pedro’s fight was the only one that went to decision from the entire fight card. Renato Moicano and Sergio Moraes also fought at Jungle Fight 18.
After that victory, Pedro advanced to 3-0, fighting exclusively in his lovely hometown. His fourth fight happened in California. From then on, Pedro was settled in Los Angeles and trained at Black House MMA. Coach Rafael Cordeiro's influence on Pedro's fighting style is very easy to recognize. Lots of pressure, high guard, front kicks and heavy low kicks. the objective being to push the opponent non-stop, to a fault, and finish him or outlast him.
After choking out a couple of fighters in 2011, The young punisher made his RFA debut in 2012 when he faced Bill Kamery. It only took a little over two minutes for Pedro Munhoz to win via “(electric) heel hook”. After overextending on a stepping elbow, Pedro was taken down by Kamery. On his way down, Pedro grabbed the overhook and tried to judo throw Kamery, but it didn’t work and Pedro landed on the ground under the American. Pedro used that remaining overhook to turn on his left side, create some space and used the butterfly guard to elevate Kamery before switching to a heel hook. It didn’t take long for Bill to tap out. A statement was made, if you want to take down that electric eel you better be ready.
After another choke win in 2013, Pedro got to fight for the RFA bantamweight title against MMA veteran Jeff Curran. Curran shared the cage with the likes of Joseph Benavidez, Mike Brown, Raphael Assunçao, Urijah Faber, Matt Serra and KID Yamamoto. When Jeff entered the RFA cage against Pedro he had over 52 pro MMA fights behind him. It was Pedro’s ninth fight in his undefeated career.
That fight was great, a back and forth scrap. Pedro came out with a lot of pressure but Curran’s experience and capacity to fight on the backfoot helped him make it competitive. There were a lot of cool sequences to see from Pedro. The use of the front kick to consistently push Curran back was great, but it was also there to set up the punching combinations of the young punisher. Pedro’s constant spamming of front and low kicks took a toll on the veteran.
Look at the lovely sequence below. Pedro pretends he wants to hand fight Curran, which gets Curran to get his guard even higher (out of reach of Pedro’ hands), then Pedro lands a clean front kick to the stomach.Pedro then feints the hand fighting again and obtains the same reaction from Curran, but this time Pedro grabs Curran’s left forearm and land a right elbow over it, followed by a body-head three punch combo. Everything Pedro does has a purpose, this fight showed all the improvements he made with guard manipulation.
That manipulation of the guard of his opponent helped him tremendously to set up elbows, flying knees, and front kicks all fight long, but also to get solid entries for his takedowns.
All fight long, Pedro was able to mix it up. The early success he had landing significant strikes upstairs and the constant volume really had Curran preoccupied. Once he got top position on the ground, Pedro was able to control Jeff and land some good strikes. However, Curran was skilled off his back and it allowed him to stay in the fight. On a few takedown attempts, Curran went for his own guillotine choke, but Pedro’s composure and strength were always enough to get out of it.
This fight truly was the confirmation that Pedro Munhoz was ready to fight in a bigger organisation. After his victory over Jeff Curan (split decision: 48-47 Curran, 50-45 Munhoz, 49-46 Munhoz) he then defended his belt against Billy Daniels and won in forty-one seconds via guillotine.
Quick finish or close decision would go on to be the story of Pedro’s career. His finish of Billy Daniels was one of many “typical Pedro Munhoz” victories. He pressured Daniels, then hurt him with a sick front kick to the gut. Daniels then shot for a single leg, Munhoz used that front headlock to defend it before going for the guillotine. His entire game is based on making you shoot on him. Don’t join the electric eel in the swamp.
THE UFC RAPIDS
Four weeks after defending his RFA belt, Pedro made his UFC debut on less than 10 days notice against #3 Raphael Assunçao, who beat TJ Dillashaw in his previous fight. Pedro was only there to save the show and nobody expected him to win. But the young punisher did pretty well and gave Assunçao a competitive fight - his lead leg was a mess after all was said and done.
Munhoz pushed the pace, and made Assunçao fight on the back foot. Pedro’s cardio held up well until the last four minutes of round 3, which allowed Assunçao to close the fight strong and edge the decision. The two first rounds were very close. After kicking Assuncao’s left leg all round long, Munhoz forced Assunçao to switch to southpaw. That open stance matchup opened the body kick and Pedro made the most of it.
Munhoz landed a body kick to the body, feinted a second kick, saw Assunçao’s reaction and then landed a big right hand. After feinting the body kicks, he saw Raphael lifting his lead leg, and Pedro used that to take a small side step and made sure he had that outside lead foot position to set up the big right hand behind it. He made that read very fast.
One of the most important things Pedro would have to deal with was being the slower fighter. Assunçao wasn’t necessarily that much faster than him, but Jimmie Rivera, John Dodson, Cody Garbrandt, and Justin Scoggins all had a significant speed advantage over Pedro. Over the years, he would have to learn how to fight through that.
Despite the loss, Pedro's performance on short notice against the # 3 contender was a source of optimism for his future. A few months later, Munhoz faced Matt Hobar in Sao Paulo. Hobar was the Legacy FC champion before joining the UFC. Pedro won this fight easily and once again demonstrated that he was a very dangerous fighter, and a fast starter.
Pedro rocked Hobar early in the first round, after landing a few body kicks on the southpaw, he went high and landed hard on the neck of Hobar. The Brazilian put on constant pressure, he never let the taller, longer American get his jab going. It was just too much for Hobar, who, after surviving a flurry on the feet, got taken down and finished there via ground and pound.
Pedro’s guard really defines his style, when a straight punch comes at him he always raises his hands high and ducks his head behind it. But here you can actually see that he was ready to parry the jab of Hobar every time he feinted it.
Pedro didn’t overreact to the feints. Instead, he grabbed Hobar’s left forearm when he threw the straight left, this allowed Pedro to throw the right hand. Even though he missed it, you can see how crafty young Pedro already was.
This fight featured a rarity, the guillotine of Munhoz did not finish the fight! Hobar perfectly lowered Munhoz's left leg, and managed to free himself from the Brazilian's guard.
However, Pedro kept the front headlock and used it to get back to his feet. During this action, Hobar had two hands on one, which kept him safe, but he made the mistake of abandoning one of the hands to put it on Munhoz's shoulder, hoping to get up. Right away, Munhoz freed his right arm and put both hands on Hobar's head to hit him with a knee. He then threw a combo, making sure Hobar stayed stuck against the cage.
Munhoz then faced the strong Jerrod Sanders and beat him in thirty-nine seconds. There is not much to say about this fight except that Munhoz leaves no room for error from his opponents.
Jerrod had the right idea, when Pedro threw a low kick Jerrod grabbed Pedro's heel, threw it over his head and went for the single leg. However, Pedro sprawled and went for the tight guillotine right away. Jerrod's strength allowed him to get up and he tried to slam Pedro, but the choke stayed on.
A few months later, it was revealed that Munhoz tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone. Munhoz's camp requested testing documentation and didn't receive it until three months later. He said a review of the results by anti-doping specialist Paul Scott determined that his testosterone was not, in fact, elevated, coming in at 850 ng/mL, or on the high end of the normal range for men his age. He admitted to using two supplements allowed by the UFC that may have elevated his testosterone, but not outside the legal limit. On November 4, 2015, Munhoz was suspended for one year retroactive to his fight due to testosterone metabolites of an exogenous origin and his win was changed to a no-contest.
For his return a year later, Pedro took on one of the best athletes in the division, Jimmie Rivera. The fight happened in Sao Paulo and both men delivered. The speed difference between Jimmie and Pedro was quite impressive. Both men exchanged in the center of the octagon. For every front kick, Jimmie replied with some quick 1-2’s. Pedro’s high guard protected him pretty well, but he struggled with his offense, only finding early success with his low kick.
Instead of getting pieced up in the pocket, Munhoz looked for clinch exchanges. When Jimmie closed the distance, Pedro would use his high guard and bump into Jimmie, then grab a single or double collar tie and throw elbows or hooks. This was a good idea to limit the speed difference. Even though Pedro seemed to lose most of the pocket exchanges, Jimmie got closer and closer to the fence. It wasn’t in the prettiest method, but Pedro’s pressure started to work. Showing off a smart adjustment of his own, Jimmie then decided to go to the body, and this caused Pedro some issues. That fight is also a perfect reminder for how tough Munhoz is and how incredible his chin is.
The back and forth fight reached its climax when in round 2, both men rocked each other badly, twenty seconds apart. Rivera slipped to his left off Munhoz’s jab and delivered an inside leg kick as he exited the pocket. Munhoz kept going, but this time his straight right was countered by a Rivera right hook left hook that landed flush on Pedro. Rivera went for the finish, but Pedro survived, shooting for a single leg that was denied easily by Rivera. Maybe Rivera got too greedy here, he kept throwing out hooks and uppercuts in sets despite Pedro looking like he was recovering. Soon after, Pedro blocked Rivera's hooks with his high guard, pushed Rivera back, took a step back, ducked under Rivera's right hook and landed a huge right hand on Jimmie's jaw.
To overcome his lack of speed, Pedro makes sure to always be first. He mixes his grappling and striking very well too. When he’s creative and innovative he perfectly compensates for the lack of speed. Pedro came back strong in round 2 when he started to find great entries for the single leg. Jimmie’s athleticism and takedown defense were amazing and he stopped most of them, but at least it made him work hard. Additionally, the single leg attempts also opened up some strikes upstairs for Pedro.
For example, here Jimmie is going to throw a step-in right hook followed by a left hook upstairs. He used that combo over and over all fight. Jimmie may be fast and powerful but his shot selection is sometimes predictable. Pedro ducked under that left hook and shot a single leg, switching off to a double. Jimmie would eventually get back up, but not without eating a left hook on his way out.
Now that he was feinting and added the wrestling threat, Pedro could kick more at ease because Jimmie was not as willing to counter everything now. All those nasty front kicks started to slow down Rivera. It was all the body work, really, from knees in the clinch, to low kicks and front kicks. Jimmie had zero solutions other than toughness. Pedro started to time Rivera’s left hook a lot, and he knocked down the Puerto Rican for the second time with an overhand right.
In the last round, Pedro was definitely the fresher fighter. At this point, Rivera's speed advantage was gone; Pedro could see most of the hooks coming his way, and countered them with overhands or head kicks. As Rivera really shifted all his weight on these hooks, he was open for the head kick, and Munhoz checked him on that. Pedro turned that fight around brilliantly in a real showcase on how to fight and outlast a faster opponent. The judges gave the fight to Jimmie Rivera, in a fight that wasn't a robbery, but didn’t feel like the right decision. Jimmie definitely won round 1, but 2 and 3 belonged to Munhoz.
In my interview with Pedro he had nothing but praise for his wrestling coach at Blackhouse MMA, Kenny Johnson. The improvement of Pedro’s wrestling between his RFA days to this fight was very impressive. He really developed a solid and tricky single leg shot.
After the Rivera loss in his hometown, Pedro took some time for himself before returning in the summer of 2016. Pedro was undefeated in 2016 and 2017, winning 4 fights -- 3 submissions, 3 guillotines, 3 performances of the night. Each fight is strangely similar, as Pedro forced a single mistake from each opponent with his pressure and choked them for it.
Russell Doane's submission was incredible. After 90 seconds of very violent exchanges in the center of the cage, Pedro got Russell's back and from there waited for twenty seconds. He released the body lock as he hooked the leg and went for the guillotine choke, then pulled guard with his legs wrapped around Russell's body. The two arms of the Hawaiian were blocked and useless; Russell released his left arm as Pedro readjusted his guard, but that wasn't enough to free himself from the choke.
Pedro then returned to Sao Paulo to fight Justin Scoggins. Again in a fight where the difference in speed was important, Pedro lost the first round. He struggled with the style of Scoggins, and his side-on stance. Pedro tried to box a little too much with Justin, instead of destroying his front leg. It looked like Scoggins was going to counter Pedro all night and frustrate him, but it only took one tiny mistake for Pedro to finish the fight. After throwing a front kick, Scoggins slid to the ground, and twenty seconds later was forced to give up as he was being strangled by Pedro Munhoz. Pedro asserted himself as one of the most dangerous finishers in the division.
After a solid and entertaining performance against Stasiak, Pedro faced Rob Font, a very good boxer with a long reach and a record of 4 wins and 1 loss in the UFC. This fight with Pedro had everything to be sparkling. Again in front of his Sao Paulo audience, Munhoz put on a show. The fight began with Rob putting on a lot of pressure, using his long and accurate jab to keep Munhoz at bay. The pace was very fast and Rob swung a head kick behind the jab but Pedro’s high guard saved him. Eventually, Munhoz regained control of the octagon at the cost of a few jabs in the face. Munhoz built up his pressure by kicking Rob's front leg. Again, Rob was faster than Munhoz but Pedro kept pressing, taking the Bostonian's own counters until he found an opening. Nose bloodied, Pedro continued to chase Font, and found an opening with his left hook, which was all it took for him to turn the fight in his direction.
The final sequence began with Pedro feinting the right hook and throwing a powerful left hook. Rob saw the left hook come in, but his own left hook was very wild. The better boxer of the two is the one who threw the worse punch, because of Pedro's pressure and the will to get rid of him with a miraculous punch, only for that to turn against him. Font had the presence of mind to shoot a takedown under the Brazilian, but unfortunately for Font, that's all Pedro wants. Pedro got the headlock off the sprawl, then went for a one-arm guillotine from full mount, posting with his left arm and strangling with his right. It seems simple when Munhoz does it, but it's amazing, and happened very quickly for Rob Font who had started the fight well.
In his next fight, Pedro faced former flyweight title challenger John Dodson. The back-and-forth fight against one of the fastest and most powerful punchers in the sport was extremely close, as it went to a coin-toss split decision. Pedro fought as the much bigger guy, and Dodson countered him using his speed. It was as close as it gets to a draw, but the victory was given to Dodson. Far from a robbery, but after a good series of four victories, everything had to be done again for Pedro, who had nevertheless established himself as a solid top 10 fighter in the division.
Pedro bounced back a few months later against the brave and reckless Brett Johns. Pedro dominated the fight, but Brett Johns brilliantly defended the guillotines. It was due to his kicking game that Munhoz won the fight, as he destroyed both the legs and the body of Brett Johns.
Following the Johns fight, Munhoz easily defeated Bryan Caraway, wounding him in the body to end the fight in less than three minutes. Back in the top 8 of the division and after two very good performances, Pedro knew he was due for a big fight and he got one. He was set to face former world champion Cody Garbrandt, an American star coming off two defeats against champion TJ Dillashaw. The difference in speed between the two fighters was phenomenal, but as Pedro had demonstrated throughout his career, he has learned to fight with that disadvantage.
The game plan of each fighter was very clear. Cody wanted to use his speed and counter Pedro when he traded in the pocket, where Pedro wanted to limit Cody's velocity by kicking the legs and was more than willing to trust his chin and meet in the pocket. No matter what one thinks of the judges' decisions and the context of each fight, the story was that Pedro had missed the boat against Assunçao, Rivera and Dodson. Garbrandt was a much more popular name than those three, so it was now or never for Pedro Munhoz to get a big name victory.
The electric eel versus the fastest fish of the rapid delivered, for as long as it lasted. This time, Pedro remained in the center of the cage, looking for Cody's first move instead of cutting him off. You can see that Pedro is not flatfooted, but actually very mobile on his feet. When he sees Cody's kick coming, he widens his stance and throws a big overhand right as he grabs Cody's heel. The former champion tries to free his foot as Pedro tries to knock him off balance, and Cody arrives at the fence and use it to stay on his feet. Pedro goes for a heel hook, but Cody finally frees his right foot with the help of the fence. Pedro has all the weapons and the instinct of a true finisher.
Pedro remained focused and highly disciplined, blocking Cody's attacks and frequently kicking the legs of the American. After 3 minutes, Munhoz started to really pressure the American, who already started to feel the calf kicks he received. Pedro cut the cage and threw a spinning back kick to the body which pushed Cody back against the cage; then, he rushed at Cody and landed a nice right hook. Back in the center of the cage, he kept kicking Cody's leg, as Garbrandt now tried to catch Pedro's kick. As Cody kept squaring up to retract his leg as Pedro kicked it, Pedro went for a head kick; during the motion, an unintentional headbutt led the fight to the ground for a few seconds.
Cody exploded, and as he stood up, he landed a beautiful flying knee to Pedro's face. Cody, sensing that the knockout was not far away, threw caution to the wind and brawled with Pedro, in what proved a massive mistake from the former champion. Not only did he headhunt too much (which facilitated Pedro's high guard defense) but Cody's inability to transition between attack and defense cost him some brain damage and a defeat, as Pedro knocked him out cold when they were both throwing in the pocket. Pedro moved his head and kept his hand up, so even as the slower fighter of the two, he beat Cody to the punch. Finally, Pedro Munhoz obtained the biggest victory of his career!
No more swamps, streams, creeks and rivers. Now that he beat Cody in that fashion, Pedro was promised to the ocean. The Electric Eel had made its mark and proven itself in the shallows of the division, and it was time for it to be shown to the world.
Three months later, UFC 238 in Chicago was a road to the title for the best bantamweights of the UFC. Petr Yan was fighting Jimmie Rivera, Pedro Munhoz was fighting Aljamain Sterling, and in the main event, Henry Cejudo (the flyweight champion) was fighting for the vacant title against Marlon Moraes. Not only would there be a new champion, but it seemed obvious that whoever performed the best would become the inevitable challenger for the belt.
In a stroke of bad luck for Munhoz and Sterling, their fight was during the prelims, while Yan vs. Rivera was on the main card. The two fights were of very high quality, but to this day, it is still the fight between Petr Yan and Rivera that has stolen all the light from the very good fight between Munhoz and Sterling. The fight between Pedro and Aljo is one of my favorite fights of 2019, and in the history of bantamweight's 3 round fights. I will not analyze it here, as it will be the subject of a future article, but I will say this. Aljamain Sterling did a great job fighting on the backfoot and using his reach to keep Munhoz at bay. Pedro's pressure was good and he did a lot of damage to Aljo. The judges gave 3 rounds to Aljamain Sterling, which I find very incorrect and severe for the Brazilian in a fight which was closer than that. I think Aljo deserved the victory, but it was very difficult, and in a 5 round fight like that, I think Pedro would have stopped the talented American. Still, the big loser of this evening was Pedro Munhoz. Why Munhoz and not Rivera? Because no one expected Rivera to perform so well against the dangerous Russian.
In defeat, Rivera's stock rose, while Pedro's sank into oblivion. It was not all over for Pedro; with another impressive victory, he would be back on top. However, he then faced his biggest obstacle. The problem for the electric eel isn't living in swamps nor destroying other fighting animals. His first problem is that when people see him, they run away for two reasons: the first, fear of the damage that a fight would cause, and the second, that even a victory against this eel (incredible as it would be) would not allow access to a fight for the title. After a 15-month solitary swim, shunned by almost every top 12 fighter in the division, the eel has finally found an Answer; living legend Frankie Edgar will make his debut in the bantamweight division against Munhoz, wanting to test himself directly without care to his opponent's popularity. Frankie has never turned down a fight; an absolute legend of the sport, he dares a new challenge in his career at the age of 38.
While the risk-taking is admirable, I think it will turn out very badly for him. However, a victory in his first main-event over Frankie Edgar would do wonders for Pedro Munhoz's career. The world is watching Pedro; it is now or never to finally let the world see the amazing fighter that he is, and has been for more than a decade now.
Good luck, Pedro.