UFC-Stockholm's Pedro Munhoz says being odds-on favorite doesn't 'count for anything'

STOCKHOLM – Sunday’s UFC Fight Night 109 scrap with Damian Stasiak was Pedro Munhoz’s first time needing the judges’ scorecards while in the UFC.

Still, Munhoz (14-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) is happy with what he was able to accomplish in Sweden. After seeing “several” of his powerful shots land hard on Stasiak’s (10-4 MMA, 2-2 UFC) head and still fail to seal the deal, the Brazilian has no problem giving the durable opponent credit for making his win a hard-earned one.

“I was impressed,” Munhoz said after the FS1-televised preliminary-card bantamweight affair at Ericsson Globe in Stockholm. “There were a couple of times when I had control, I tried to guillotine him, and he defended it pretty well, so it looked like he was expecting that. Also, I was commenting with my corners at the beginning of this camp that he can take a lot of punishment.

“Besides that, he was a karate world champion. So it shows that his striking is not bad at all. Besides that, like I mentioned before, he can take a lot of punishment. Many times, I landed hard shots, hard kicks. His knee, his face. A couple of times I felt my knee right in his jaw. He ate it and got right back up.”

Munhoz had already dismissed the weight of coming into the octagon as the night’s heaviest favorite. After all, having seen himself in the underdog position prior to all of the UFC scraps he had ultimately won, Munhoz learned there’s only so much the odds can tell you. The way Sunday unfolded, he said, further proved his point.

“For me, being an underdog and a favorite doesn’t mean anything,” Munhoz said. “And we could tell tonight. The guy from Sweden – (Nico) Musoke, or something? He was a big-time favorite, and he lost to the kid from Serbia (Bojan Velickovic). This sport, MMA, is one-on-one. It’s a pretty tough sport, and I don’t think being a favorite or an underdog counts for anything.”

Munhoz is now riding a three-fight winning streak following finishes of Justin Scoggins and Russell Doane – both “Performance of the Night” winners, courtesy of his notoriously slick guillotine choke. His only two losses in the UFC were a decision to Raphael Assuncao, stemming from a short-notice promotional debut, and a close split call to Jimmie Rivera.

Fully satisfied with the move to American Top Team after an amicable departure from his longtime Kings MMA training grounds, Munhoz wants to keep the momentum going by getting back there as soon as possible.

“I have to watch and see what I did wrong and what I can do better, but I’m happy,” Munhoz said. “I’m happy that I’m safe, no injury. I’ll be back to the gym in a week, and I’ll be ready to fight again soon.”

And while he’s not shy about his plans to make it all the way to the top, he’s also not about to handpick his way there.

“(I’ll fight) anyone the UFC wants me to fight,” Munhoz said. “I’m going to step up in the cage. (You’ll) see what you guys saw tonight: walking forward the whole time, throwing punches, kicks. I’ll be comfortable in any circumstances in the fight. Anyone the UFC wants to give me, top-5, top-10, whatever, in two, three-weeks notice, I’m going to go in there and brawl.”

To hear more from Munhoz, check out the video above.

And for more on UFC Fight Night 109, check out the UFC Events section of the site.