Landing several hard kicks to the body and nearly finishing on a couple of occasions, Pedro Munhoz mauled a game Brett Johns at UFC 227.
Capping off the UFC 227 televised prelims on Saturday, bantamweights Pedro Munhoz and Brett Johns threw down in what promised to be an exciting clash. Not just for their styles, but for what the fight meant to the 135lb division. Munhoz had been on an impressive run before coming up against John Dodson at UFC 222. Johns, meanwhile, was undefeated until running into a similar wall against Aljamain Sterling at UFC Atlantic City earlier this year.
One of these two talented bantamweights was getting back in the win column. And whichever one did, they’d be poised for a bump up in competition with a strong showing in a relatively thin division.
Munhoz opened with a number of leg kicks, looking to slow the roll of Brett Johns. Johns, after eating a few of those kicks, changed levels for a takedown, but was staved off. They went back to exchanging on the feet, with Pedro Munhoz landing the harder shots. Munhoz then found himself tagged by Johns, whose striking got going as well. This time it was Munhoz looking for a takedown, but it couldn’t finish either. Later in the frame, Munhoz would look for a standing guillotine, but wasn’t in position. Johns continued throwing, landing, but Munhoz continued to walk forward, finishing the round with a spinning kick that sailed wide, but showed he had plenty of game left.
Round two saw Munhoz continue to press forward. Johns was starting to show some damage to the nose, not to mention on the leg. Then, Munhoz clipped Johns with a liver kick and Johns went down! Munhoz moved in, attacking him with ground and pound as Johns crumpled downwards. Brett Johns somehow survived, as Munhoz opted to work for a submission. A D’arce, then into side control, and a guillotine. Johns scrambled free, went back down, and broke free again. Then, at the end of the round, Munhoz rocked (and later dropped) Johns with a head kick! Somehow, Johns survived the round.
This is INSANE! @PedroMunhozMMA with stiff high kick, but how tough is @36Johns!? #UFC227 pic.twitter.com/fKLiE2oyVA
— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) August 5, 2018
In the third, after a minute or so of exchanging jabs on kicks on the feet, Johns ate another hard liver kick. He began to crumble to the ground, and Munhoz looked for the guillotine. Again, somehow, Johns fought it off. Munhoz, however, would dominate on top for most of the round, and sail to a unanimous decision win.
Pedro Munhoz def. Brett Johns by unanimous decision (30-26, 29-28, 29-27)
