Preview: UFC Fight Night 233 ‘Song vs. Gutierrez’

Middleweights

Jun Yong Park (17-5, 7-2 UFC) vs. Andre Muniz (23-6, 5-2 UFC)

ODDS: Park (-205), Muniz (+170)

The 2023 campaign has not been kind to Muniz. He came to the UFC in 2019 as a dangerous submission specialist but after kicking off his UFC career with an ugly decision win over Antonio Arroyo—both men gassed and neither looked particularly good—hopes were not high that “Sergipano” could consistently make his game work at the UFC level. However, within two fights, Muniz managed to outgrapple Ronaldo Souza and break the former contender’s arm in the process, forcing everyone—including the rest of the middleweight division—to take notice. After one-sided wins over Eryk Anders and Uriah Hall, Muniz looked set for a charge towards contender status in 2023, but instead, he has come crashing back to earth. Faced with fellow confident grapplers in Brendan Allen and Paul Craig, Muniz was the one who broke first, suffering some disheartening stoppage losses. Muniz looks to stop his skid against South Korea’s Jun Yong Park, who continues to round into form heading into the biggest spot of his career.

Another 2019 UFC signee, Park looked like a fun but flawed fighter ahead of his debut, fighting with a counter-heavy approach that walked him right into a loss against the aggressive Anthony Hernandez. However, “The Iron Turtle” has slowly been adding tools to his toolbox in the years since, including a surprisingly effective wrestling and grappling game, and the end result is a versatile fighter that has made a habit of outlasting his opponents. Park can still throw down for a total war—his lone loss of his last eight fights came in an absolute barnburner against Gregory Rodrigues that he nearly won—but his July victory over Albert Duraev proved that he is more than willing to take his time and pick his spots before breaking the fight wide open. It will be interesting to see if the threat of Muniz’s grappling takes Park out of his game at all, but the Korean seems to be a well-prepared fighter who should know what to expect. If he can survive with Muniz for any length of time, the bet is that the Brazilian will eventually fold. The pick is Park via third-round stoppage.

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Song vs. Gutierrez
Rountree vs. Smith
Elliott vs. Mudaerji
Haqparast vs. Mullarkey
Park vs. Muniz
Jousset vs. Song
The Prelims