Preview: UFC on ESPN 22 ‘Whittaker vs. Gastelum’

Lightweights

NR | Luis Pena (8-3, 4-3 UFC) vs. NR | Alex Munoz (6-1, 0-1 UFC)

ODDS: Pena (-130), Munoz (+110)

Pena continues to boast plenty of potential, which in turn makes the results all the more frustrating. Pena immediately catches the eye. He is gigantic for his division, and his shock of red hair led to his “Violent Bob Ross” nickname. Pena’s bursts of offense made him a consistent finisher on the regional scene, but that quickly dried up at the UFC level. His size and grappling creativity can cause issues for his opponents, but even Pena’s best UFC performances have seen him mostly stall out the action upon finding himself in an advantageous position. A loss to Khama Worthy in June was disappointing, particularly because Pena was handily in charge of the fight until suffering a third-round submission. He looks to finally get that bad taste out of his mouth here against Munoz. A Team Alpha Male product, Munoz is probably still best known for his 2018 Dana White’s Contender Series win over Nick Newell. Munoz has a solid enough array of tools, but over time, he has pivoted a bit away from his wrestling and more towards a slow-paced striking game that, frankly, is not particularly inspiring. There is a chance he can stall out Pena, but the latter figures to be the much more physical force and Munoz does not offer much in the way of dynamic fight-changing ability. The pick is Pena via decision.

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