UFC Fight Night 164: Blachowicz vs. Jacare - Predictions and Picks

#4 Antonio Arroyo vs. Andre Muniz

Can Andre Muniz's experience help him past Antonio Arroyo?

Not sure how this one made the main card, to be honest. These two Middleweights are products of Dana White’s Contender Series, with Muniz stepping in on relatively late notice to replace the injured Kevin Holland. Curiously, both men actually won a fight on the Brazilian version of the Contender Series before following that with a win on the US version to cement their UFC status.

The problem in trying to preview a fight like this is that there’s so little to go on – neither man has been a renowned prospect for years and while there’s footage of them available on YouTube, you just can’t read a lot into victories over fellow prospects, journeymen or tomato cans on the Brazilian regional scene. The only name that stands out on either man’s ledger? Muniz has a win over Paulo Filho – but it came in 2014 so it doesn’t mean too much.

Basically from what I can tell, both men are willing strikers but their better work comes on the ground, where both men appear to be skilled Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu artists. They have 16 submissions between them and clearly know how to finish a fight, but it’s Muniz who has far more experience; 18 wins while Arroyo has just 11 fights overall.

Putting two debutants like this is always a bit of a crap-shoot – it’s near impossible to predict how they’ll react to the UFC stage, and given they’ve really fought no notable opponents you just can’t read a lot into their previous outings. I’m taking Muniz based on his experience but to be frank, there haven’t been many fights I’ve been less confident in picking in 2019.

The Pick: Muniz via unanimous decision