With his impressive performance over perennial top 10 middleweight Chris Leben at UFC 138, Mark Munoz effectively earned a title shot in most MMA fans’ eyes.
Munoz has beaten some very credible opponents such as Leben, Demian Maia, Kendall Grove and Aaron Simpson.
He has some of the most vicious ground-and-pound we’ve ever seen in the Octagon, and his power translates into his stand-up as well, evident by his KO victory of CB Dollaway.
When asked about the UFC middleweight title following the Leben contest, Munoz stated he felt he had earned a shot and would like to be next in line to challenge middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva.
While nobody can say Munoz hasn’t earned his title shot, everyone can—and should—believe that he’s not ready to face Silva.
His stand-up has improved since he first stepped inside the Octagon, but he still relies too much on his one-punch KO ability; he needs to work at throwing combinations and setting up his right hand.
If you watch the Leben fight, you can see Munoz almost spin himself into the ground trying to wing punches and knock Leben out with one punch. “The Spider” is likely to take those openings and leave Munoz in a crumpled heap in the middle of the Octagon.
But, of course, we know Munoz has enough brains to realize his best chances at winning would be to take Silva down. Munoz has some heavy hands on the ground, and for years fans have known the way to beating Silva is by wrestling.
Munoz’s wrestling, just as his striking, hasn’t evolved far enough to where fans should give him a chance against Silva. His amateur background is unquestioned, but the former Oklahoma State Cowbay hasn’t transferred that success into MMA wrestling yet.
In his fight with Yushin Okami, we saw Munoz struggle to get takedowns and often times just lunged forward hoping to take Okami to the ground. Okami himself is a fairly good wrestler and likely offered more resistance than Silva would be able to.
But what about the size factor?
I’m not saying Munoz is small for 185 lbs., but if you look at how he struggled against a larger middleweight (Okami), you can guess he would have similar struggles against Silva, considering Silva is rumored to walk around at around 220-230 lbs.
Munoz hasn’t evolved enough to become a complete fighter that could dethrone “The Spider.” Chael Sonnen has some of the best wrestling in all of MMA and even he couldn’t finish Silva.
Munoz has the power to knock Silva out, but it’s getting him to the mat that worries me. Munoz would be ineffective at taking Silva down and would be forced into a stand-up battle against the best striker in the world.
Fans want to see Silva challenged and to have his back be against the wall. We don’t want to see him stand there with his hands at his waist baiting another wrestler unable to take him down.
Munoz is more of a glorified prospect (he’s only had 14 fights in his career) than title contender. Give him one, maybe two more bouts against top five middleweights, and then he can call Silva out and ask for his title shot.
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