Pedro Munhoz to Fight Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera at UFC 292

Pedro Munhoz is stepping in…

The 36-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist, a perennial top-10 bantamweight, will face Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera at UFC 292 on August 19, after Vera’s original opponent, Henry Cejudo, withdrew from the bout due to injury.

Pedro MunhozVera (22-8-1) was supposed to face Cejudo in the co-main event of UFC 292, but Cejudo withdrew shortly after the bout was agreed to because of a shoulder injury.

Vera’s management team announced the new pairing via social media on Friday.

Munhoz (20-7) has floated amongst the UFC bantamweight rankings for years, although he’s only 2-4 in his last six outings. All four losses, however, came against current or former UFC champs in Aljamain SterlingFrankie EdgarJose Aldo and Dominick Cruz.

Fighting out of American Top Team, Munhoz is coming off a much-needed upset over Chris Gutierrez in April.

Vera, of Ecuador, will look to rebound from a split-decision loss to Cory Sandhagen in March. Sterling, the defending bantamweight champ, is slated to headline the UFC 292 pay-per-view event against Sean O’Malley.

The event will take place inside TD Garden.

Chris Gutierrez to Fight Andrew Ewell in UFC’s Upcoming UFC 258 Event

Chris Gutierrez is stepping up, and stepping in…

The 29-year-old Guatemalan and Colombian American mixed martial artist will face off against Andrew Ewell in UFC’s UFC 258.

Chris Gutierrez

Gutierrez and Ewell were called up after a the UFC cancelled a scheduled bantamweight contender bout on Saturday between Pedro Munhoz and Jimmie Rivera due to a coronavirus-related issue, the UFC announced.

Sources said the promotion is attempting to rebook the matchup as soon as later this month.

In its place, Gutierrez and Ewell will meet in a 140-pound catchweight bout. Ewell was pulled from last Saturday’s UFC Fight Night due to a positive COVID-19 test that he said was a false positive.

Gutierrez has a 15-4-2 mixed martial arts record, including a draw in his last fight in August 2020 against Cody Durden.