Pedro Munhoz replaces Henry Cejudo, faces Marlon Vera next month at UFC 292
UFC 292 took a hit about a week ago when former two-division champion Henry Cejudo withdrew from his clash with no. 6 ranked bantamweight contender Marlon Vera due to a shoulder injury.
The former champion returned to the octagon earlier this year at UFC 288, his first appearance in three years, where he challenged Aljamain Sterling for the same belt he vacated those three years ago, losing a disputed split decision.
Cejudo was attempting to remain active upon return, booking this match up with Vera just over three months later, but it appears we’ll have to wait and see what his future in fighting holds. At 36 years of age and fighting in the bantamweight division, that was a tough one for any Cejudo fan to swallow.
However, though Cejudo won’t be competing at this event, Marlon Vera still will be, as he’s now slated to face no. 10 ranked Pedro Munhoz.
UFC 292 is to go down on August 19, 2023, live from the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
This is an underwhelming match up for some, given Munhoz’ lack of success as of late, but he is still a top ten talent in the promotion today that’s coming off a win.
Marlon Vera (20-8-1) vs Pedro Munhoz (20-7, 2 NC)
It was looking for a while there like Munhoz was going to be a formidable top contender, maybe even champion of the division. Following defeat to longtime top contender Raphael Assuncao (UD) in his UFC debut, Munhoz would go 9-2 with seven finishes over his next 11 contests.
This saw him defeat the likes of no. 7 ranked former CES featherweight champion Rob Font (guillotine choke), former Cage Warriors bantamweight champion Brett Johns (UD), and former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt (KO).
What’s more, those two defeats both came via split decision: one to former CFFC and ROC bantamweight champion Jimmie Rivera, and the other to former two-time UFC flyweight title challenger John Dodson.
However, Munhoz went 1-4 (1 NC) over his next eight outings, losing to the likes of current UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling (UD), former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar (SD) in a very controversially scored five-round main event, former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo (UD), and former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz (UD), with the lone victory coming over Jimmie Rivera (UD) in their rematch.
Since then Munhoz defeated top 15 talent Chris Gutierrez (UD), who was 7-0-1 in the UFC since 2019, three months ago in April.
Marlon Vera on the other hand just had his win streak snapped by no. 4 ranked Cory Sandhagen (SD) earlier this year in March. Going into that fight Vera was on a four-fight win streak with wins over the likes of Davey Grant (UD), where he avenged his second promotional defeat, then three familiar faces to Munhoz, Frankie Edgar (KO), Rob Font (UD), and Dominick Cruz (KO), with his most recent defeat prior coming to another familiar face in Jose Aldo (UD).
Vera also defeated no. 2 ranked Sean O’Malley (TKO), who Munhoz battled to a no contest with last July.
As you see, these two have fought a lot of the same people, and they each ironically have 2o wins in 29 career fights.
Now they’ll finally be facing one another later this summer.
Who comes out on top in this bantamweight clash going down at UFC 292?
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