LAS VEGAS – Tony Gravely let his hands do the talking this past Saturday and already knows who he wants to test his striking against next.
On the prelims of UFC Fight Night 207 at the UFC Apex, Johnny Munoz found himself down and out just over a minute into the fight. Gravely (23-7 MMA, 4-2 UFC) connected with an uppercut to the jaw just as Munoz (11-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) changed levels. It was a short, powerful strike, and after a couple of follow-up punches, the referee stopped the bout.
After the fight, Gravely credited his success to the work he put in with his coaches, specifically the striking training drills. He said he doesn’t like to hit mitts because he feels it throws his range off, but Gravely’s coaches were able to figure out what works best for him.
“In the past as well, I’ve had trouble throwing combinations,” Gravely told reporters at the post-fight news conference. “Like I said, the drills we do, we throw a lot of volume. So, I just let my hands go. Sometimes you land ’em, sometimes you don’t. Sometimes people duck into stuff, so had I not thrown the 3-4, maybe I wouldn’t have hit him. But I just threw it, committed to my strikes, made sure my stance was good, and it worked.”
A winner of two in a row in 2022, Gravely wants to keep the momentum going by testing his skills against other fighters who will challenge him on the feet, and he has some names at the ready.
“I have a couple of guys in mind,” Gravely said. “I’d like to fight some strikers, to be honest. … Some good strikers are Chris Guiterrez, Jonathan Martinez – those are some good strikers, some guys that have a good winning streak going. I’d like to test myself against those guys.”
UFC’s Tony Gravely wants to test his skills against these strikers after 68-second knockout
