9 – Pedro Munhoz VS Kyler Phillips
Two weeks ago Pedro Munhoz marked his ten year anniversary with the UFC, as he debuted against Raphael Assuncao in February of 2014. He has gone 10-8 (2 NC) in that time, won mostly by finish, and remained in the rankings for most of those years. Even at thirty-seven years old, Munhoz is able to compete with the best in the world and has still never been finished in his professional career. He has definitely shifted his fighting style towards a more conservative one in recent years, showing an intelligence and process that many aging fighters lack. In his prime, Munhoz was a terrifying slugger with a brutal calf kick and a guillotine that put opponents to sleep when his aggression forced them to shoot on him. Now, he maintains that power but uses it as a threat to force opponents to fight the slower type of fight that he wants.
Kyler Phillips is nine years younger and has much the opposite fighting style, utilizing flashy kicks which show hip flexibility that lives up to his ‘Matrix’ nickname. That, plus his slick offensive grappling has let him outmaneuver nearly everyone he faces. However, that has been his undoing, as his cardio has not held up to the pace he tries to set at times. Beating Song Yadong in 2021 should have been the fight that propelled him to stardom, but he faltered against a lesser Raulian Paiva after that due to his gas tank. After only fighting twice in 2022/23, MMA Lab’s top prospect looks to get back to the top-15 with a win over Munhoz. If he can settle down and fight smarter, his superior dynamism, length, and offensive potency should be enough to beat Munhoz. He just has to show that growth, which does not mean completely abandoning that which made him exciting to begin with, it just means tempering it with a solid process and a cool head. But that victory over one of the best prospects – now one of the best top contenders – in MMA in Yadong shows what ‘The Matrix’ is capable of, and his effective, effortless flash truly puts him in the Matrix when at his best, making him a treat to watch.
