Pedro Munhoz has no problem taking on the biggest challenges in the bantamweight division.
The Brazilian fighter has been eagerly waiting for a fight and he’s looking to return early 2020, preferably against a man many consider to be the toughest division matchup outside of the champ Henry Cejudo. Munhoz (18-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) would love to take on Peter Yan – a 26-year-old Russian fighter who’s unbeaten in the UFC and is coming off a knockout win over former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber at UFC 245.
It’s believed that few want to take on Yan, and understandably so, but Munhoz pushes back against that idea.
“I heard some interviews with Urijah Faber saying nobody wants to fight Petr Yan, but I have text right here to Sean Shelby (UFC matchmaker) back-and-forth and for the last six seven months I’ve been asking for that fight,” Munhoz told MMA Junkie.
“The idea that nobody in the division wants to fight him, that’s not true. I have the facts here that I’ve been asking for the fight for the last six months, and not because I think it’s going to be an easy or anything.
“I’m here in the UFC wanting a top-five opponent. I’m number six right now and I never picked fights. I want fights that are going to give me a challenge like Cody Garbrandt and many other fighters, those are the kind of fights I like to do. And if the guy wants to knock me out and finish me, that’s what I like because I like to push my limits. I’m not going to run so we’re going to fight and that’s my idea. I go there to kill or be killed.”
Munhoz last fought in June where he suffered a decision loss to Aljamain Sterling, but prior to that the American Top Team product was on a three-fight win streak and 7-1 in his last eight bouts. In his fight prior to the Sterling loss, Munhoz knocked out former UFC bantamweight champion Garbrandt.
Yan is a dangerous matchup for anyone at bantamweight and Munhoz knows it. That’s why he wants to fight the Russian.
“I know his capability, I know he’s tough, I have nothing against him, but I want to challenge myself with the best fighters,” Munhoz explained. “I think the best fighter in that division is him. I head in some interviews that people were avoiding him, but I have the facts right here on my phone that I have been asking for the fight for the last six, seven months. Just tell me the date, just tell me the time, we can do that in the U.S.”
Pedro Munhoz challenges idea nobody wants to fight Petr Yan: 'Just tell me the date'
