Marlon “Chito” Vera got back in the win column with a punishing performance to beat Pedro Munhoz by unanimous decision to kick off the main card at UFC 292.
While it was a back-and-forth fight throughout it was Vera’s lead jab that kept finding a home on Munhoz’s chin that seemed to make the difference with the judges. The scorecards came back 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 with Vera getting the job done as he continues his climb up the bantamweight rankings.
With Vera’s reputation as a slow starter, it was Munhoz who looked to put the pressure on early as he started chopping away with a series of leg kicks and then going back up top to the head. Munhoz was also incredibly active while Vera was biding his time to throw a series of jabs in return, which were definitely finding a home on the Brazilian’s chin.
It was clear that Munhoz was focusing on an offense built around volume striking and trying to chip away at Vera’s foundation. While he was definitely more active, Munhoz had to be wary in every exchange because Vera was throwing with some serious heat behind all of his punches.
As Vera started getting more aggressive, Munhoz did his best to match him while also trying to avoid a straight up fire fight. Vera was definitely landing with more power while Munhoz was answering back by peppering him with two or three shots in a row including more of those leg kicks.
A left jab from Vera really started connecting in the third round as he snapped Munhoz’s head back on several occasions. As the third round continued, Vera just couldn’t miss with that same straight punch that was busting up Munhoz with cuts on his nose and under his right eye.
Munhoz wasn’t backing down as he continued to bite down on his mouthpiece and just step into the pocket to trade with Vera. There was no slowing down from either bantamweight as Vera and Munhoz just kept blasting away until the final horn.
In the end, Vera’s ability to dish out more damage made the difference as he bounced back after a lackluster outing in his previous effort against Cory Sandhagen in March.