Andre
Muniz believes in setting goals and striving to reach them.
The surging Brazilian will try to hasten his move up the
Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight ladder when he
takes on two-time
Ring of
Combat titleholder
Uriah Hall as
part of the
UFC 276 undercard on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Muniz, 32, finds himself on a career-best eight-fight winning
streak, with aspirations for more.
“I know it’s going to be a hard path,” he told Sherdog.com. “I
dream about getting into the division’s Top 10. I want to make my
mark. I’m looking forward to beating yet another great fighter. I
know it won’t be easy. It’s one step at a time. It’s no use
dreaming about what’s ahead if I don’t get past Hall. I’m focused
on July 2 only. After that, we’ll see what’s next.”
Muniz, who has not tasted defeat in nearly six years, owns a
perfect 4-0 record inside the Octagon. He rose to true prominence
in 2021, when his armbar on two-time Abu Dhabi Combat Club
Submission Wrestling World Championships gold medalist
Ronaldo
Souza broke bones and resulted in a technical submission at UFC
262. Muniz has no intention of surrendering his momentum.
“There have been some incredibly special moments throughout my
career,” he said. “I have always worked hard to face the best
fighters in Brazil. For a long time, I was ranked number one in the
country. I kept improving and eventually earned my way into the
UFC. I put in a lot of hard work to be able to be victorious [at
this level].”
A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Otavio Duarte, Muniz knows
where his strengths reside. The Tata Fight Team representative has
secured 15 of his 22 pro victories by submission.
“I come from jiu-jitsu,” Muniz said. “I like competing in it, I
continue to train in it and I have been able to successfully put
that into practice inside the UFC—repeatedly.”
Hall, meanwhile, remains something of an enigma. “The Ultimate
Fighter 17” finalist has struggled to establish consistency
throughout his career, though he can author breathtaking highlights
at any given moment. Hall last competed in the UFC on ESPN 28 main
event, where his four-fight winning streak grinded to a halt in a
unanimous decision loss to
Sean
Strickland on July 31. The 37-year-old Jamaica native has never
lost via submission.
“I respect him a lot, as well as his style, but I’m living my
moment now,” Muniz said. “I have my own trajectory. I don’t think
he is likely to be a champion in our weight class anymore. The
opposite is true for me. I want to be champion, and my next step is
to beat him. I know it’s going to be difficult. He’s very
experienced and skilled. He has great striking and he’s able to
switch stances, but I feel highly confident in my jiu-jitsu, in my
game and in my trainers. It is no secret that I’ll look to submit
him.”
Muniz concedes he needs to be more active in order to draw
attention to himself. He has not competed more than twice in a
calendar year since 2015 for a variety of reasons, many of which
were out of his control. Muniz last appeared in December, when he
submitted
Eryk Anders
with an armbar in the first round of their UFC 269 pairing.
“I fought very little due to the [coronavirus] pandemic, and then
there were some cancelations,” he said. “Our previous booking [with
Hall] was canceled two weeks prior. It was bad. I traveled from my
hometown in Montes Claros, [Brazil], went to Rio de Janeiro, spent
my own money for a three-month camp and didn’t get anything in
return. God knows what He does. The important thing is now I’m
booked again, and I’ll be getting paid.”
Muniz expect to shine against a willing dance partner.
“We’re going to have a war,” he said. “I’ll look for submissions
from start to finish. I’ll look to shock the world again and secure
my spot in the Top 10, on my way to the championship belt.”