UFC 138 Results Recap: Mark Munoz delivers in Birmingham

Sure, the main event at UFC 138 between Chris Leben and Mark Munoz was scheduled for five rounds, but not many expected that it would go the distance and it didn’t.  The fight pitted Leben’s stand up striking skills against Munoz’s wrestling and ground and pound. In the end the NCAA wrestling champion prevailed, as he was able to take the fight to Leben and avoid “The Crippler’s” powerful stand up game.  

Munoz was in control for the majority of the fight, landing takedowns at will and using his ground and pound to bloody Leben’s left eye.  The end came between Rounds 2 and 3 when Leben informed his corner that he was unable to continue due to the fact that he couldn’t to see from his left eye.

Questions after seeing Chris Leben vs. Mark Munoz:

-How far away from a title shot is Mark Munoz?  After the fight Munoz asked for a fight with Anderson Silva.  Munoz may not be long for that shot, but he’s probably one fight away from getting that shot.

-What’s next for Leben?  Leben was a hot commodity in 2010, running off three straight victories between January and July, with two of those coming within a span of two weeks. Since then he has gone 1-2, with the two losses coming via stoppage and his victory, while impressive, was against Wanderlei Silva who had gone 2-5 in his seven fights before meeting Leben.  Leben, like Dan Hardy, is a fighter that will always bring it, but the question is what level of competition will he be bringing it against in his next fight?

Notes and more questions following UFC 138:

-Can we finally put the cage rust excuse to rest?  Terry Etim was out of action for 19 months and ended his fight in 17-seconds.  Let’s be honest about things, cage rust is really just code for, “I didn’t prepare well for this fight.”

-What’s next for Thiago Alves?  Yes, he was a heavy favorite over Papy Abedi, so it was no surprise that he won, but for a fighter that was probably fighting for his UFC life, it was a win that kept him in the big leagues, but for how long?

-Is Renan Barao “in the mix” in the Bantamweight division? Barao extended his unbeaten streak to 27 fights with his submission win over Brad Pickett.  The knock on Barao prior to this fight was that he had not faced top-level competition, well, now he has, and he handled himself well. He’s now one of the better Bantamweights that UFC champion Dominick Cruz has not faced and defeated and that may very well count for something.

-Che Mills was impressive in his UFC debut, ending Chris Cope’s night after 40-seconds, not even giving Cope enough time for a single “Wooo!”

LowKick.com UFC 138 main card awards:

-Fight of the night: Chris Leben vs. Mark Munoz. It was a toss up between this fight and the Pickett and Barao fight, but I went with this one because I felt that the level of competition was a bit higher.

-Performance of the night: Terry Etim.  Anyone that can put a 19 month layoff behind them in 17-seconds deserves this award.

-Finish of the night: Renan Barao. Barao’s transition to Pickett’s back was so fast and smooth, Pickett had no chance. The win should open up some doors for Barao in the Bantamweight division.

Further Reading: UFC 138 Wrap-Up: Barao, Pickett, Etim, Mills take home $70k

Photo: CageWriter.com