Dubai: Future Hall of Famer Frankie Edgar will be hoping that his rich experience in MMA will be the deciding factor when he confronts Pedro Munhoz in the main event of UFC Fight Night at the Apex Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
The former lightweight champion, makes his bantamweight debut against the division’s fifth-ranked contender, who is strongly favoured to thwart Edgar’s ambitions.
Ever since he stormed into the UFC in 2014, 33-year-old Munhoz (18 wins, 4 losses, 1 draw) has been viewed as a genuine title-contender because all four of his defeats have come against high-quality fighters such as No. 2 ranked Aljamain Sterling, who he lost to in June last year.
The Brazil-born Californian’s biggest win came in March last year when he obliterated former title-holder and third-ranked Cody Garbrandt in the very first round.
Edgar (23-8-1) has been involved in some of the UFC’s most memorable fights including a blockbuster against the iconic BJ Penn, whom he defeated in 2010 to win the lightweight championship.
He defended his title on three occasions before twice losing to Benson Henderson, who has since left the UFC to compete in Bellator.
Edgar, who fights out of New Jersey, has won just one of his last four appearances, with that victory coming against former contender Cub Swanson.
He suffered big defeats to Chan Sung Jung in the first round of their December bout and was also knocked-out in the first-round by No. 2-ranked Brian Ortega.
In the co-main event, Alonzo Menifield and Ovince St Preux meet in a light heavyweight battle.
UFC Fight Night
Bantamweight: Pedro Munhoz v Frankie Edgar
Light heavyweight: Ovince Saint Preux v Alonzo Menifield
Light heavyweight: Marcin Prachnio v Mike Rodríguez
Women’s flyweight: Mariya Agapova v Shana Dobson
Welterweight: Daniel Rodriguez v Takashi Sato
Women’s strawweight: Amanda Lemos v Mizuki Inoue
Lightweight: Austin Hubbard v Joe Solecki
Welterweight: Dwight Grant v Calen Born
Light heavyweight: Isaac Villanueva v Jordan Wright
Welterweight: Carlton Minus v Matthew Semelsberger
Bantamweight: Timur Valiev v Trevin Jones
