In what will become the UFC’s first ever non-title five round bout, Mark Munoz will face his toughest challenge yet, against the highly durable, always dangerous Chris Leben.
However, for Munoz, the fight is not only a landmark in UFC history, but also an opportunity to put himself in an undeniable position as a true contender in the middleweight division. More importantly, with a win, he’ll be one fight away from a title shot.
Having won six out of his last seven fights since his drop to middleweight, “The Filipino Wrecking Machine’s” sole loss was to the last man to challenge Anderson Silva for the belt, Yushin Okami.
Since his loss to Okami at UFC Live: Jones vs. Matyushenko, Munoz has gone 3-0, beating the likes of Aaron Simpson, C.B. Dollaway and most recently, former number one middleweight contender, Demian Maia.
Come UFC 138, Munoz’s skills will be put to the test against one of the sport’s toughest and most tenacious fighters in “The Crippler”.
To make things more difficult, the fight will go into the championship rounds, possibly making it one of the most grueling fights he could possibly have, and it won’t even be for the belt.
If anybody can survive this sort of gauntlet it would definitely be Munoz, and should he come out with his hand raised it’ll be a lot harder to deny him a title shot.
Here are four reasons why a win should put Mark Munoz in line for a title shot.