The main event of UFC On Fuel TV 4: Munoz Vs. Weidman is looking to be a great one, as "The Filipino Wrecking Machine" Mark Munoz is hoping to make a push for a shot at Anderson Silva and the Middleweight Championship while Chris Weidman is trying to put together another solid win in a young career. He'd like to be challenging Silva for his title one day too, despite watching another wrestler in Chael Sonnen get knocked out on Saturday.
Munoz is the closer of the two to earning a title shot. It's unclear who is next in line for a shot at the title, with guys like Michael Bisping, Hector Lombard, Alan Belcher and Tim Boetsch all being in the discussion. But what is this fight actually going to come down to? Who has the best shot to win and why?
Well, Munoz is clearly more experienced, boasting a 12-2 record, with wins over guys like Demian Maia and Chris Leben. Munoz is a wrestler with some of the best ground and pound in the game, but thus far has proven he's not particularly great at bringing the fight to the ground. When he fought Yushin Okami, it simply looked like an exercise in takedown defense as Okami firmly prevented Munoz from getting him out of his comfort zone.
Since that point, Munoz has sort of taken to his striking game, which has improved in leaps and bounds. That doesn't necessarily mean it's quite on par with the elite strikers .. quite the opposite, really. He's got a slow, predictable style, but what he lacks in finesse he makes up for in power. He's got a few knockouts to his credit, and he certainly will be trying to stand with Weidman in this one.
To this point, Weidman has bested most of his opposition with his stellar wrestling and submission game. As such, Munoz likely won't be looking to take it to the ground. Weidman most certainly will though, but it's doubtful that he's got the chops to take Munoz to the ground with regularity. This will be his first true test in regards to being a dynamic fighter, as his gameplan of choice isn't likely to work.
That being said, Weidman doesn't need standup that's much better than serviceable to best Munoz in that regard. He just needs to avoid that power and play the part of a finesse fighter, which many believe he can. He was the underdog against Maia in his last fight - he was going to get steamrolled or something to that affect - but he went out there and largely dominated. It should be a very interesting fight.
Let's go with Munoz by decision for the prediction on this one.
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