Mark Munoz showed no sign of ring rust after a lengthy layoff in his fight with Tim Boetsch this evening at UFC 162, turning up the heat in the later rounds with his brutal ground and pound to produce a unanimous decision victory.
Boetsch starts off with a front kick and then moves into the clinch. He’s looking for a takedown, and at the second attempt he briefly gets him to the canvas and lands a few punches before they go upright again.
Boetsch still has ahold of Munoz’s back against the cage and fires off a few knees to his legs before they break free.
Back into the clinch and Boetsch lands a few knees to the midsection and then Munoz manages to drag him to the mat. Before he can do anything with it his opponent is back on his feet again though. still in the clinch Munoz tries hard for a second takedown. They roll to the mat and Boetsch is briefly on top before they stand once again.
Munoz determined to get this fight down to the mat though and lands another takedown. Boetsch works his way on top and then we’re standing again.
They start to trade some heavy leather in close, but it’s short live and then we’re back to clinch work. They break apart and Munoz rifles off a swift combination of left and right punches. Nice little flurry to end the round.
Round two begins and again Boetsch is pressing forward early, this time landing a hard body kick. Munoz returns with one of his own and then attempts a flying knee that doesn’t pay off. After that initial burst they go back to the clinch with Munoz pressing Boetsch against the cage and fires off a few knees.
Eventually Munoz opts to break free. Boetsch launches forward with punches and backs Munoz up, but then he’s taken down. Munoz works to Boetsch’s back as he’s turtled up on his knees. Munoz launching some vicious body shots and Boetsch stands up only to be taken back down again.
Back to the same position with Munoz on top of Boetsch who’s on his knees. A few more punches to the body from Munoz. Boetsch stands and presses Munoz up against the cage. He’s looking for a takedown, but Munoz uses his bodyweight to push his opponent back down to the mat.
More nasty body work from Munoz and Boetsch looks to be feeling the effects of it and isn’t offering much in return here. Munoz fires off some hard knees to the upper body and then a few punches to the head to finish the round strongly.
Last round and they hit the mat quickly again and now Boetsch is trying to work his submission game, attempting a Japanese Neck Tie. they reset and Boetsch’s looking for another submission attempt, but Munoz is ok and gets on top, firing off more heavy shots.
Boetsch attempting a knee bar while Munoz winds up more shots. Nothing doing for Boetsch and Munoz attempts a kimura.
Another knee bar attempt from Boetsch in the final moments of the round that doesn’t pay off and Munoz again finishes strongly with more ground and pound, leaping into the air to land a blow over his opponent’s guard.
Good performance from Munoz here and he takes the fight by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 29-28).
