Kyler Phillips outclasses Pedro Munhoz in impressive performance at UFC 299
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us tonight, March 9, 2024, for UFC 299, a 14-fight card going down from the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida.
Headlining the event is bantamweight championship rematch between Sean O’Malley (17-1, 1 NC) and the only man to ever defeat him, no. 5 ranked Marlon Vera (23-8-1).
Co-headlining the event is a lightweight encounter between no. 3 ranked former interim champion Dustin Poirier (29-8, 1 NC) and no. 11 ranked Benoit Saint-Denis (13-1, 1 NC).
Opening up the regular UFC 299 prelims was a bantamweight contest between no. 13 ranked Pedro Munhoz (20-9, 2 NC) and Kyler Phillips (12-2), who aimed to jump into the top 15 of the 135 lb rankings tonight.
Munhoz, following an 18-3 (1 NC) start to his career, had since gone 2-5 (1 NC), going 1-1 over his latest two appearances with a victory over Chris Gutierrez (UD) and a loss to Marlon Vera (UD). Phillips on the contrary had gone 5-1 through his six promotional bouts, most notably defeating Song Yadong (UD) and Raoni Barcelos (UD).
Continue reading to see how this bantamweight encounter went down:
Official Result: Kyler Phillips def. Pedro Munhoz via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Phillips got to work with his offense early, throwing a lot of straight punches in combinations, and also throwing an array of kicks, many of which were hidden behind his punches.
Munhoz caught one of those kicks and put Phillips on his back though Phillips was back to his feet about 30 seconds following. Phillips continued his assault once returning to his feet, landing all sorts of slick combinations, looking better than he’s ever looked.
Munhoz shot in on a takedown unsuccessfully as he was eating a lot of shots, being forced back to his feet where he ate a hard knee to his face.
Phillips’ pace slowed down a tad in round two, though he continued to find his range with a variety of attack from his punches, knees, and kicks.
Phillips out-struck Munhoz throughout the final minutes of the contest as well, he was just on another level tonight. He fought so well, had so many tools he resorted to throughout the fight, came very close to landing a number of head kicks, finally landing one in round three, and his movement was incredibly impressive as well. Munhoz couldn’t touch him.
Kyler Phillips improves to 6-1 inside the octagon tonight at UFC 299.
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