Preview: UFC 276 Prelims

Middleweights

#9 MW | Uriah Hall (17-10, 10-8 UFC) vs. #13 MW | Andre Muniz (22-4, 4-0 UFC)

ODDS: Hall (-280), Muniz (+235)

Muniz’s UFC debut did not exactly portend a ton of success. “Sergipano” came away with the win against Brazilian countryman Antonio Arroyo at the tail end of 2019, but it was a bout that saw both men tire badly, with Muniz doing the marginally better job of pressing through exhaustion. Somehow, Muniz has rattled off three straight wins in the two and a half years since, going on an impressive run that has him on the verge of middleweight contention. Muniz’s approach is pretty simple, hunting for the takedown and submission over all else; and it has worked much better than it feels like it has any right to. Muniz has gotten fight-ending armbars on Bartosz Fabinski, Ronaldo Souza and Eryk Anders in less than four minutes each, breaking “Jacare’s” arm in the process in their fight last year. Whenever Muniz’s winning streak hits its end, things figure to implode spectacularly. Muniz does not offer much on the feet and the Arroyo fight raised plenty of concerns about his gas tank. It will be a fun ride for as long as it lasts, with Hall serving as the latest test to see exactly how far Muniz can climb up the middleweight ladder.

Hall’s career has been a rollercoaster, to say the least. His run to the final of “The Ultimate Fighter 17” saw him put together a highlight reel of violence that had some talking of him as a potential title contender. Then “Primetime” lost that final to Kelvin Gastelum, and after a flat performance against John Howard, Hall probably needed his 2013 win over Chris Leben just to stay on the roster. So began the duality of Hall’s career, as he is both capable of impressive things and has often seemed to struggle with the things he can do to his fellow man. By default, Hall would be more than happy to win a middling sparring match, but when backed into a corner, he can uncork some of the most amazing highlights in the sport. A recent four-fight winning streak—which included Chris Weidman’s broken leg, a particularly cruel cosmic joke on Hall's psyche—raised some hope that Hall could finally ascend into true title contention, but Sean Strickland put that to a clear end in their headlining affair in 2021. Hall now looks to regain his momentum roughly a year later. This is clearly a fight with two true outcomes, and while Hall has done well to make himself viable against wrestlers and grapplers, Muniz does appear to be the type of wrestler who can get this to the mat in short order; he also has the grappling chops to find a finish shortly thereafter. That is enough to give the Brazilian the edge, though if this makes it past a round, Hall figures to obliterate Muniz for a knockout given the latter’s questionable striking and cardio. The pick is Muniz via first-round submission.

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Hall vs. Muniz
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