CHICAGO – Pedro Munhoz is rooting for Marlon Moraeson Saturday night at UFC 238.
An all-Brazil showdown is Munhoz’s dream, and all bantamweight title challenger Moraes has to do is send flyweight champ Henry Cejudo back to his division.
With UFC on ESPN+ 21 recently announced for Sao Paulo, Munhoz believes the stage is set.
“They don’t have a main card, so hopefully goes well on Saturday, and Marlon and myself is going to be for the next title fight,” Munhoz told MMA Junkie on Wednesday.
Munhoz plans to do his part by beating Aljamain Sterling on the ESPN-televised prelims of UFC 238. He’s not entirely thrilled that Cejudo jumped in front of him, but he’s happy to be staying active.
“I deserved the title shot after (my) knockout of Cody Garbrandt,” Munhoz said. “But I understand the reasons they didn’t do a title shot.”
And just in case anything goes wrong before curtains, Munhoz has been training a minimum of five rounds at a clip.
Sterling has tried to make things personal on Twitter by bringing up Munhoz’s past issues with drug testing. Munhoz received a one-year suspension after a post-fight drug test revealed elevated levels of testosterone. Munhoz did not admit fault.
If the attacks were aimed at getting Munhoz off his game by bringing anger into the picture, he said they failed.
“It’s not personal,” Munhoz said. “Actually, I take that back. Every fight for me is personal. For the fact that he said something about me, that didn’t make it more personal. Every single fight for me is personal.”
Still, Munhoz said he’s “ready to shut his mouth” on Saturday.
And if his countryman Moraes takes home a “tough decision” over Cejudo, he wants his next octagon fight to be on home soil.
For more on UFC 238, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
