Former UFC fighter wants the promotion to give Kris Moutinho another "shot": "He is one of those fighters"
Kris Moutinho feels he deserves a second chance to compete in the UFC and many, including an ex-UFC fighter, thoroughly agree with him. Moutinho became an overnight sensation in 2021 when he put on a gritty performance against Sean O'Malley in a short-notice fight at UFC 264.
Moutinho could not build momentum after his debut and the UFC released him following a TKO loss to Guido Cannetti in his second outing. The 31-year-old went on a four-fight unbeaten run following his UFC departure, with all four wins coming by the way of finish.
Following his recent win over Elijah Harris at Combat Zone 84, Moutinho expressed the desire to climb his way back to the UFC and said:
"I want to have my chance to get back in there and work my way back and prove to people that I'm much more than just a chin to get punched on. I can take shots. I can give shots back. I can put on wars."
His statement was recently posted on MMA Junkie's Instagram page.
Ex-UFC fighter Jamie Pickett, who retired from MMA a few months ago, took to the comments section of the post and urged the UFC to give Moutinho a second chance. He wrote:
"Give him a shot. He wants it and willing to do the work. The UFC wants fighters that will fight when called on. He is one of those fighters."
Pickett's statement reflects the general fan consensus about Moutinho as the fighter is popular among UFC fans.
Why is Kris Moutinho famous among UFC fans?
Sean O'Malley was originally scheduled to fight Louis Smolka at UFC 264, who was forced to pull out due to an injury and was replaced by the debuting Kris Moutinho.
Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier's historic trilogy fight headlined the event which brought a lot of eyeballs to it and presented fighters an opportunity to make a name for themselves.
O'Malley was expected to run through the relatively unknown opponent who was not prepared for the step-up in competition. However, Moutinho put up fierce resistance and fought with dogged determination. He continued to press the action for three rounds despite consistently getting cracked with severe blows that left O'Malley with sore knuckles.
O'Malley landed a total of 230 significant strikes on Moutinho, the second-highest in a single fight in the UFC bantamweight history and the eighth-highest across all divisions.
While Moutinho lost the fight via a third-round TKO, he earned a lot of praise for his effort and took home an additional $75,000 Fight of the Night bonus. The display of durability and toughness turned Moutinho into an instant sensation as he also got away with a few good shots of his own.