André Muniz de Aguiar (born February 17, 1990) is a Brazilian

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

who competes in the Middleweight division of the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

. As of December 6, 2022, he is #11 in the UFC middleweight rankings.

Background

Born in Montes Claros, Minas Gerais, André Muniz was a very active teenager, which made his mother sign him up for Jiu-Jitsu classes to see if he could get calmer and more disciplined. It worked, Muniz fell in love with martial arts, and started practicing Muay Thai too. His first competition happened when he was 15 years old, a white belt championship in Montes Claros. He began practicing MMA at the age of 19, when he asked his teacher at the time to schedule a fight for him. Muniz attended Faculdades Unidas do Norte de Minas, from where he graduated with bachelor's degree in

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explora ...

with

honors Honour (or honor in American English) is the quality of being honorable. Honor or Honour may also refer to: People * Honor (given name), a unisex given name * Brian Honour (born 1964), English footballer and manager * Gareth Honor (born 1979) ...

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Muniz started his career travelling back and forth between his hometown and Rio de Janeiro, training with the likes of

Thiago Santos Thiago Santos de Lima (born January 7, 1984) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently signed to the Professional Fighters League (PFL), competing in the light heavyweight division. Prior to signing with the PFL, Santos competed for the U ...

and Luis Henrique at Tata Fight Team, and earning extra money on the side as a personal trainer to make ends meet in between fights. Starting off with a decision win over former PRIDE star and WEC middleweight champion

Paulo Filho Paulo Fernando de Souza Leite Filho, better known as simply Paulo Filho (; born May 24, 1978), is a Brazilian retired mixed martial artist who last competed in the Middleweight division. A professional competitor from 2000 until 2014, Fi ...

at the Bitetti Combat 19 event on February 6, 2014, Muniz would go on to win 10 out of the next 11 bouts between 2014 and 2018, culminating in being offered a chance on Dana White's Contender Series.

Dana White's Contender Series

Muniz was invited onto the Brazilian version of DWCS at Dana White's Contender Series Brazil 2 on August 11, 2018. He won a unanimous decision against Bruno Assis, but the win did not win him a UFC contract. Almost a year later, Muniz returned to DWCS to face undefeated Taylor Johnson at Dana White's Contender Series 23 on August 6, 2019. He finished Johnson via rear-naked choke in the first round, finally winning a UFC contract.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

After two wins in

Dana White's Contender Series Dana White's Contender Series, formerly named Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series, is an American mixed martial arts promotion. In May 2017, the UFC announced White would hold the competition weekly on UFC Fight Pass (It has since been move ...

, Muniz signed with the UFC and made his promotional debut against Antônio Arroyo at UFC Fight Night: Błachowicz vs. Jacaré on November 16, 2019. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Muniz made his sophomore appearance against

Bartosz Fabiński Bartosz Ryszard Fabiński (born 26 April 1986) is a Polish mixed martial artist who fights in the Middleweight division. He has formerly competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Fabiński was born in Warsaw, Poland. He ...

at UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Sakai on September 5, 2020. He won the fight via first-round armbar. Muniz was scheduled to face

Andrew Sanchez Andrew William Sanchez (born April 8, 1988) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Middleweight division. A professional competitor since 2012, he has formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championshi ...

UFC 257 ''UFC 257: Poirier vs. McGregor 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on January 24, 2021 at the Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Background Starting with ...

on January 23, 2021. However, Muniz withdrew from the bout and was replaced by

Makhmud Muradov Makhmud Muradov (born 8 February 1990) is a Tajik-born Uzbekmultiple-time Jiu-Jitsu World Champion

Ronaldo Souza Ronaldo Souza dos Santos (born December 7, 1979), nicknamed " Jacare" (), is a Brazilian former mixed martial artist and submission grappler who competed for UFC from 2013 to 2021. A highly regarded grappler on the world ...

UFC 262 ''UFC 262: Oliveira vs. Chandler'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on May 15, 2021 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, United States. Background A UFC Lightweight Championship ...

on May 15, 2021. He won the fight via technical submission in the first round after breaking Souza's arm in an armbar, becoming the first person to submit Souza in the process. The feat was widely recognized and named as the Submission of the Year by the mixed martial arts media and also the UFC itself. Muniz was scheduled to face

Dricus Du Plessis Dricus du Plessis (born 14 January 1994) is a South African professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He previously competed in the Middleweight division of ...

on December 11, 2021 at

UFC 269 ''UFC 269: Oliveira vs. Poirier'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on December 11, 2021, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United Stat ...

. However, Du Plessis was removed from the event due to injury and he was replaced by

Eryk Anders Eryk Ryan Anders (born April 21, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist and former American football linebacker. He competes in the Middleweight division of the UFC. He played college football at the University of Alabama. Ear ...

. He won the fight via an armbar submission in the first round. Muniz was scheduled to face Uriah Hall on April 16, 2022 at UFC Fight Night 206 However, Hall withdrew due to undisclosed reasons, and the bout was cancelled. The bout with Hall was rescheduled for

UFC 276 ''UFC 276: Adesanya vs. Cannonier'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 2, 2022, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States ...

on July 2. He won the bout via unanimous decision. Muniz is scheduled to face

Brendan Allen Brendan Allen (born December 28, 1995) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional since 2015, he has also competed for the Legacy Fighting Alliance ...

on on February 25, 2023 at UFC Fight Night 220.

Personal life

Muniz is the father of two daughters. In a December 2021 interview with

Sherdog Sherdog is an American website devoted to the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). It also has many forums and discussion pages on the many topics of MMA like records, promotions, etc. The site is a member of the CraveOnline network and provides MM ...

, Muniz said that he used the bonus money that he won for his performance against Bartosz Fabinski at UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Sakai to purchase a plot of land where he plans to build a home for his family.

Championships and accomplishments

Performance of the Night UFC Bonus Awards are three separate cash bonuses usually awarded to four fighters after each UFC event, based on internal decisions by UFC management. More/fewer bonuses have been awarded at some events, especially when no knockouts or submissions ...

(one time) vs.

Bartosz Fabinski Bartosz is a Polish given name and a surname derived from Bartłomiej, the Polish cognate of Bartholomew. People with the given name * Bartosz Beda, Polish contemporary artist * Bartosz Bereszyński (born 1992), Polish footballer * Bartosz Bi ...

**Submission of the Year *Bitetti Combat **Bitetti Combat Middleweight Championship (one time) ***One successful title defense *

MMAjunkie.com MMA Junkie is a news website that covers the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). It was founded in 2006, and is owned by Gannett Company since 2011. The site and its content have been featured in ''Time'' magazine'', ''ESPN The Magazine'', ''The N ...

**2021 May Submission of the Month **2021 Submission of the Year > **2021 Under-the-Radar Fighter of the Year *MMA Fighting **2021 Submission of the Year *

**2021 Submission of the Year *LowKickMMA **2021 Submission of the Year (tied with

Brandon Moreno Brandon Carrillo Moreno (born December 7, 1993) is a Mexican professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Flyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Flyweight Champion, and the c ...

Mixed martial arts record

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Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

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Nalchik Nalchik (russian: Нальчик, p=ˈnalʲtɕɪk; Kabardian: //; krc, Нальчик //) is the capital city of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, Russia, situated at an altitude of in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains; about nor ...

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Montes Claros Montes Claros is a city located in northern Minas Gerais state, in Brazil. The population is 413,487 (2020 est.) in an area of . It was made a seat of a municipality in 1831 and attained city status in 1857. History The region was originally in ...

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Araraquara Araraquara ( or ) is a city in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population is 250.314 (2022 est.) in an area of . It is also known as "the abode of the sun," because of its impressive sunset and because of its hot atmosphere, especially in su ...

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Itaboraí Itaboraí (, ) is a city in the state of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, that belongs to the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area. It was founded in 1672. In 2020, it had a population of 242,543. Location Culturally, its closest municipalities are Sã ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Muniz, Andre 1990 births Living people Brazilian male mixed martial artists Middleweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu People from Montes Claros Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian Muay Thai practitioners Sportspeople from Minas Gerais