They are central figures in perhaps the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s most talent-rich division, and as such, their showdown takes on added significance.
Brazilian icon Jose Aldo will meet American Top Team’s Pedro Munhoz in the UFC 265 co-headliner on Saturday at the Toyota Center in Houston, as the bantamweight contenders provide the primary support for the Derrick Lewis-Ciryl Gane main event. A former UFC and World Extreme Cagefighting titleholder, Aldo has lost three of his past four bouts. The Nova Uniao mainstay last appeared at UFC Fight Night 183, where he took a unanimous decision from Marlon Vera on Dec. 19. Munhoz, meanwhile, has rattled off eight wins in 11 outings. He last competed on Feb. 27, when he outpointed Jimmie Rivera across three rounds at UFC Fight Night 186.
As Aldo and Munhoz make final preparations for their pivotal three-round tilt at 135 pounds, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
34: Years of age for Aldo, who was born on Sept. 9, 1986 in Manaus, Brazil.
17: Aldo wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 59% of his career total (29). His list of UFC victims: Renato Carneiro, Jeremy Stephens, Chan Sung Jung and Chad Mendes. Aldo owns one other win by submission—he tapped Luiz de Paula with an arm-triangle choke at Shooto Brazil 7 on March 19, 2005—and 11 more by decision.
3: Sub-minute stoppage wins on the Aldo resume. He cut down Mario Bigola with a head kick in 18 seconds at Eco Fight Championship 1 on Aug. 10, 2004, disposed of Aritano Silva Barbosa with soccer kicks in 20 seconds at Rio MMA Challenge 1 on May 12, 2005 and put away Cub Swanson with a flying knee and follow-up punches in eight seconds at WEC 41 on June 7, 2009.
9: Post-fight bonuses banked by Aldo across his 25 appearances in the WEC and UFC. He has been awarded “Fight of the Night” on four occasions, “Knockout of the Night” three times and “Performance of the Night” twice, resulting in $406,500 of additional income.
.781: Cumulative winning percentage between the six men—Petr Yan, Marlon Moraes, Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway (twice), Conor McGregor and Luciano Azevedo—who have defeated Aldo. They sport a combined record of 121-32-2.
34: Years of age for Munhoz, who was born on Sept. 7, 1986 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
8: Submission victories for Munhoz, accounting for 42% of his career total (19). His methods of choice: six guillotine chokes, one rear-naked choke and one heel hook. Munhoz owns five other victories by knockout or technical knockout and six more by decision.
863: Significant strikes landed by Munhoz as a UFC bantamweight, placing him second on the promotion’s all-time list at 135 pounds. Only T.J. Dillashaw (1,114) has connected with more.
5: First-round finishes to Munhoz’s credit since he joined the UFC roster seven-plus years ago. He brought down Matt Hobar with punches 2:47 into their pairing at “The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3” Finale on May 31, 2014, submitted Russell Doane with a guillotine choke 2:08 into their encounter at UFC Fight Night 90 on July 7, 2016, took care of Rob Font with a guillotine choke 4:03 into their confrontation at UFC Fight Night 119 on Oct. 28, 2017, dispatched Bryan Caraway with a body kick and punches 2:39 into their clash at “The Ultimate Fighter 28” Finale on Nov. 30, 2018 and disposed of Cody Garbrandt with punches 4:51 into their matchup at UFC 235 on March 2, 2019.
7: Organizations in which Munhoz has competed as a mixed martial artist. He has gone 9-5 in the UFC, 4-0 in the Resurrection Fighting Alliance, 2-0 in Respect in the Cage, 1-0 in Full Fight, 1-0 in Eagle Fighting Championship, 1-0 in Jungle Fight and 1-0 in MMA Xplosion.