LAS VEGAS – Alexander Munoz beat Carl Deaton with a unanimous decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC on ESPN 49 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Munoz, who snapped a two-fight skid, won for the first time since October 2019, and fought for the first time in more than two years.
Carl Deaton vs. Alexander Munoz
Result: Alexander Munoz def. Carl Deaton via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 29-28)
Updated records: Munoz (7-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC), Deaton (17-7 MMA, 0-2 UFC)
Key stats: Munoz landed three takedowns and had nearly four minutes of control time.
Munoz on the fight's key moment
“I feel like I did what I needed to do to win that fight. I also feel like my fights have been exciting enough to where even when they were losses, I gave people what they wanted. I know that my fights are always going to be bangers and I’m going to scrap hard and leave it all out there. At the end of the day, as long as I’m fighting hard and as long as I leave everything out there, whatever the result is, the people who care about me, the people who love me, they’re still going to be there. I can find a lot of peace in that and be able to just go out and fight my fight and not have to worry about everything else.”
Munoz on making changes
“I honestly felt surprisingly calm – more calm than I have in a lot of my other fights. I feel like my last couple fights, I also had a little bit more calmness about myself. But just being present, not getting there too soon, not letting the nerves get to me, believing in what my coaches have taught me and the work that I put in – and just keep going back to that. I’m ready. I put in the work. I deserve it. I know I deserve it. I’ve made the sacrifices.
“From my last fight to this one, I’d say just cleaning up my lifestyle a bit (made a difference). My fiancee is a physical therapist and she’s big into health and nutrition and the changes that she made to my diet. Leading up to the fight for months and months and months, I cleaned everything up. I was working hard.”
Munoz on his 2023
“I’ve had an incredible year – a lot of growth this year – and I feel like my life is moving in the direction that I want it. I made a lot of changes in my personal life and lifestyle changes that have definitely been major, I guess – really pivotal things for my career as far as making sure I’m doing the right things to get to where I need to be going. I’m just super grateful for it, for a healthy body and having good people around me, incredible coaches, incredible support system. What more can you ask for?”
To hear more from Munoz, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 49.
